At All Costs
by Airurando
Summary: A.C. 197: The peace attained two years ago is under siege, and Heero must learn to embrace what matters to him the most... That is, if he can face his deadly secret. A Preventers epic with canon pairings. Please R & R!
1. Unintended

**At All Costs**

This is a rewrite of a story that I published years ago. It takes place after the events of Endless Waltz in A.C. 197, when all five former Gundam pilots have become Preventers. In this version, the Preventer HQ is in New York City. The Preventers, including the Gundam pilots, along with Zechs, Noin, and Une, accept missions from various high profile leaders who need assistance in keeping the peace.

Obligatory disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, as much as I wish I did. I also don't own the incredible Muse lyrics you'll notice at the beginning of each chapter (I highly recommend listening to their songs while reading this; it's the perfect soundtrack). What I _do _possess are my faculties, my love of happy endings, and a few original characters sprinkled throughout this story. Enjoy!

**Chapter I:**

**Unintended**

_You could be my unintended_

_Choice to live my life extended_

_You could be the one I'll always love_

_You could be the one who listens_

_To my deepest inquisitions_

_You could be the one I'll always love_

_I'll be there_

_As soon as I can_

_But I'm busy_

_Mending broken_

_Pieces of the life_

_I had before_

_Before you…_

Duo Maxwell propped his feet up on his desk in contentment. It had been a slow day at Preventer headquarters, which was always good news. _The less we're needed, the better,_ he thought. _But still... It's nice to make a little cash on the side. _He pulled out the Preventer schedule to check for his name; it was empty. _Well,_ he laughed a little at the thought, _guess I'll be broke for the week. I suppose I could always borrow from Quatre; the guy's loaded!_

The shrill ring of the phone interrupted Duo's thoughts. "Ah, that must be Destiny calling; looks like I'll be getting some dough this week after all!" Duo answered the phone.

"Hello, Preventer headquarters. Duo speaking, what can I do ya for?"

"Why, hello, Duo. My name is Adrian Guilermo. I work in the Cinque Kingdom's Foreign Relations department."

Duo's eyes widened. "The Cinque Kingdom?"

"Yes, that's right. Have you been there?"

"Uh, no, not exactly. So, you need one of our Preventers to come to the Cinque Kingdom, eh? What seems to be the trouble? Is it Relena Darlian?"

Adrian chuckled. "I'd say you were getting ahead of yourself, but you're right on target. Some terrorist threats have been made against her life, trying to keep her from attending the Global Summit this coming week. While we have implored her to stay behind for her own good, she insists on going."

Duo gave a low chuckle. "That sounds like her, all right; stubborn as ever. So, you want one of us to accompany her?"

"Yes, someone who is an exceptional soldier and could serve as a worthy bodyguard. He would need to be near Miss Relena at all times."

Duo forgot all about his desire to earn some extra money. "I have just the guy for you, Mr. Guilermo. So, where's he going, and when does he have to be there?" Adrian relayed the necessary information to Duo, which he jotted down quickly.

_Boy, is Heero in for a surprise! _Duo grinned mischievously. _But I don't think I'll tell him this mission is to protect Relena; he can find that out when he gets there! _Duo stuck the information on Heero's desk, and waited for him to come and discover it.

The next day, Heero Yuy found himself standing outside the United Nations building in New York City. He had assumed that he would have to go further for this mission, protecting the leaders at the Global Summit; he hadn't realized the meeting was right in his backyard. Heero stood where Duo had told him he was to wait, right in the front corridor. There, a man named Adrian Guilermo was supposed to meet him. While he waited, his mind began to wander.

_Is Relena going to be at this conference? I haven't seen her in some time._ He let out a low sigh.

"Relena..." he murmured. _Snap out of it._ He told himself._ There's work to do. Focus._ Yet he knew that an encounter with Relena was inevitable, unless she had heeded the terrorist threats and stayed home. _That's not like her; she's not afraid of anything. She'll be here._

Heero closed his eyes and leaned back against the cool wall. Before he allowed himself to think about Relena any further, he heard footsteps at the other end of the corridor. Heero's eyes snapped open. A man who looked about ten years older than Heero was approaching. He was tall, with light brown hair and cool grey eyes. Heero was surprised to see that he wore the uniform of the Cinque Kingdom. He narrowed his eyes. Duo had conveniently left that part out.

"Greetings," the man extended his hand. "Are you Heero Yuy?"

"That depends," Heero said, eyeing him warily. "Are you Adrian Guilermo?"

"Last time I checked," the man joked. Heero allowed himself to relax and shook the man's hand.

"The conference begins tomorrow," Adrian began as they headed down the corridor, "but not all of the diplomats have arrived yet."

"I see you're from the Cinque Kingdom," Heero interjected. "Have you come alone, or have the rest of the kingdom's representatives arrived as well?"

"We all traveled together," Adrian said. "Rather pleasant trip, I might add. The Atlantic Ocean looks so beautiful from a plane."

Heero tuned Adrian out as he continued to drone on. All Heero cared about was finding Relena, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself. Soon the two were walking outside, toward a stately hotel.

"All the members of the Summit are staying here," Adrian explained as they waited for an elevator to take them to the thirteenth floor. "We have positioned you in such an area where you can easily access any of us if the need presents itself." The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside.

"I must say," Adrian said as he surveyed Heero, "it's good to have a Preventer on our side. We have plenty of bodyguards available, but I've heard that your team does an exceptional job. And from what Duo Maxwell has told me, you're often referred to as the Perfect Soldier. Is this true?"

"Yeah," Heero said as he lowered his head, trying not to look proud.

"Then I am sure you will make an excellent bodyguard. The members of the Cinque Kingdom Foreign Relations department will be pleased." Heero hated suspense. And surprises. He wished this guy would cut to the chase.

"Including Vice Foreign Minister Darlian," Heero stated blankly. He looked at Adrian pointedly.

"Why, yes, of course." Adrian looked pleased that Heero seemed to know something of his department.

"She came," Heero murmured to himself. Adrian overheard.

"Yes, we tried in vain to keep her away for safety reasons, but she wouldn't hear it. I hope that there are no terrorists looming around right now, because I have to show you which room Miss Relena will be occupying."

Heero nodded as Adrian pointed the room out. "Yours is right here," Adrian gestured to the adjacent room. He held out a key, and Heero prepared to move in for the week.

Meanwhile, Relena Darlian stepped out of a black stretch limousine. Tall buildings loomed overhead like an inescapable fate. Relena felt trapped in this city, but she was determined to attend this conference and let the other world leaders know where the Cinque Kingdom stood.

"Thank you," she said to the chauffer, tipping him generously. She stood outside the hotel for a full minute, gazing up into the night sky; well, at least what could be seen of it in the bright glare of city lights. Most of the windows in the building she faced were darkened or had curtains drawn in front so no one could see in. One window, however, was open, and the light streamed down onto the street below, illuminating Relena's figure. Relena looked up. A dark-haired young man sat on a windowsill, gazing out thoughtfully. Relena began to move inside the hotel so that she would not disturb him by staring. But he looked so peaceful, she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. She realized the boy was staring at her, and right then she knew.

"Heero," she whispered.

"Relena," came the reply.

Relena was stunned. Was it possible she had actually heard that? _Of course not; my ears are playing tricks on me_! She looked closer. _Is that really you, Heero?_ Relena decided not to wait a moment longer and entered the hotel. _If you're here, Heero, I know we'll find each other._ Her thoughts swimming, Relena checked in to the hotel, then took the elevator to the thirteenth floor. As she headed down the hallway to her room, she was met by Adrian Guilermo.

"Ah, Miss Relena! It's good to see you. Did you enjoy your tour of the city?" Adrian took her arm to escort her.

"Yes; it was just fine, thank you." Relena didn't feel very talkative, but Adrian chattered noisilyas he led her down the hall. Relena cringed inwardly, wishing that he wouldn't talk so loud.

Heero continued to gaze out the window from his hotel room. The blonde girl he had seen below had disappeared inside the building. Whether or not it had been Relena, Heero was not certain, but something told him she was near. He heard voices in the hallway and cocked his head to listen. He could hear Adrian's voice, jubilant and booming, as he came closer to Heero's room. Heero stood by his open door, in such a position that he could see the people approaching, but he himself could not be seen. He had no need to stand like this, in stealthy hiding; he did it mostly out of habit. Adrian was coming this way, all right, but who was that behind him, hesitating to move forward? Heero drew in a sharp breath. _Relena._

A strange feeling overcame Heero each time he beheld Relena Darlian. He didn't know if it was love, or merely admiration. Whatever it was, Heero felt it now as his eyes followed her down the hallway. Even though she had matured from the naive schoolgirl she was when they first met, she still seemed young and innocent. There was purity in her eyes, sincerity when she spoke, and grace and beauty in her movements. Despite her soft and feminine appearance, there was something very intimidating about her. _She is so much stronger than I could hope to be, _Heero thought.

Relena and Adrian were about to pass. If they turned around, they would be able to see Heero. They stopped at the room next door, and Heero almost wished that Adrian would move out the way so Relena would be able to see Heero out of the corner of her eye. To Heero's dismay, she entered the room and shut the door behind her.

"Good night, Miss Relena!" Adrian said cheerfully through the closed door. This almost made Heero chuckle to himself; it seemed he wasn't the only one who found Adrian a bit too much to take. Then again, he and Relena were more alike than most people seemed to think. Adrian caught sight of Heero leaning against his open door. "Oh, hello there," he said with a chortle. "Are you ready to meet your assignment?"

_This guy is starting to get to me,_ Heero thought warily. He walked over to Adrian and found himself outside Relena's door.

Relena stood in the center of her spacious hotel suite. She found herself drawn to the windowsill, and sat gazing out, just like the young man she had seen earlier. _Heero,_ she thought. _I wonder where you are?_ She thought of the mysterious boy who so often filled her thoughts. Oddly enough, Relena knew little more about him than she did the day they met. Then again, there was little to know about Heero. If anything, the two of them had come to an understanding; he had his job, and she had hers. Once in a while, their paths crossed somewhere in between. _But still..._ Sometimes Relena couldn't help but long for something more. She was tired of being alone, and Heero was the only one in the world who seemed to truly understand her. The next time she saw him, she hoped they could deepen their acquaintance at last.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, causing Relena to jump in her seat.

"Miss Relena," Adrian called from outside.

Relena sighed in disappointment. "Yes, Adrian?" She answered him warily. Adrian was friendly enough, but she was in the mood for a quiet evening alone.

"I have someone I want you to meet..." Adrian's voice rang in with a sing-song tone.

"I'll be right there." Relena glanced in the room's large mirror as she headed for the door and could see that she looked presentable enough. She wore a conservative, yet feminine, violet suit dress that was cut a few inches above her knees. Her long, honey-colored hair fell softly around her shoulders. Her blue eyes sparkled in anticipation, and she opened the door.

There was Heero, standing before her.

Relena gasped. Even though she had half-expected it, even though she was certain she had felt his presence here, it was still a surprise to see him. Heero, however, didn't look surprised or amazed in the least. Relena thought she saw a hint of emotion flicker in his eyes, but if it had been there at all, it was impossible to tell now.

"Heero." His name slipped from her lips as she stood in the open doorway. She couldn't help but stare at him in his black Preventer's uniform.

"Relena." Heero returned her look with a steady gaze.

"So, I see you've met!" Adrian interrupted. "Heero, you are Relena's bodyguard from this moment on. I am entrusting her life into your hands. Got that?" Adrian looked to Heero, who was still gazing at Relena, and noted that Relena stared back, unblinking. "All right then," Adrian said as he started to move away from the pair. "I'll just leave you two alone, then." He began to head down the corridor. "Oh, and Heero—whatever you do, don't let Miss Relena out of your sight!"

Heero ignored him, which didn't bother Adrian in the least. He knew it was an easy enough mission for Heero. It was obvious that he was in love with Relena, and would probably never leave her side if he had the choice. _This, _Adrian thought to himself, _is going to work out beautifully._

Heero found himself in the sitting room of Relena's large suite. He paced around for a minute, uncertain of what to do or say. Relena was back at her windowsill, smiling contentedly just to have Heero nearby. He watched her as she sat, about to speak, but she turned to him first.

"I just knew you were here, Heero. No one told me a thing, but I still knew."

"I know what you mean." Heero moved over to her and sat by her side. They studied one another for a moment, as if to be sure that nothing had changed between them since they last met. Their relationship was indefinable, to say the least. It was the type of connection that could pick up wherever it left off without a hindrance. Heero and Relena seemed to have made a silent agreement not to contact one another. Why, neither knew—they never talked about it. They both lived their own lives and worked hard to accomplish their individual aspirations. An observer might say that they were both too involved in their separate tasks to ever be together; however, both thought of the other often.

Relena turned her face to look out the window. Heero said nothing, but merely kept his eyes on her.

"Heero?" Relena spoke softly. "Was that you I saw sitting on your windowsill earlier, like we are now?"

Heero offered a half smile. "I thought that was you I saw on the street; then again, the limo kind of gave you away."

His voice, at once gruff and gentle, warmed Relena. "You're on the this floor as well, then, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm right next door when you need me." Relena noted that he didn't say _if._

She shifted in her seat. "I guess they figure I'll be safer that way."

Heero frowned. "Who's _they_?"

"Oh, you know. The Cinque government in general. They've been very protective of me, especially since we were attacked a year ago and were forced to surrender. You remember that."

Heero lowered his eyes to the floor. "Maybe you aren't so safe with me around after all."

"That's not true, Heero. I felt secure the moment I entered this city, just knowing that you live here."

Heero looked up, a little surprised at he words. "Relena?"

"I really hoped we'd find each other again, but wasn't expecting it. Well, I _am_ always being surprised when you're around, Heero." Relena smiled at their inside joke.

"Hn." Heero seemed to be deep in thought. He stood up suddenly and took Relena's hand, raising her to her feet.

"What is it, Heero?" Without responding, Heero drew the curtain in front of the window, then went into Relena's bedroom to do the same. Satisfied, he came back into the sitting room.

"Is something the matter, Heero?"

"Not at the moment, but you can never be too careful. I don't want anyone seeing you in here. It's easier to see in than out, and you never know who could be watching."

Relena nodded, then concentrated on pushing back a strand of Heero's hair, which had fallen in front of his dark blue eyes. He seemed touched by the gesture, and responded by capturing her hand and brushing it against his lips.

Relena blushed slightly. "Heero..." Their eyes locked. Then Heero broke away from her.

"You had better get some rest. You have a long day ahead of you," he spoke softly in his monotone.

Relena smiled warmly. "You too. Goodnight, Heero." She resisted the urge to kiss him on the cheek. _Since when do we start kissing each other goodnight? _She admonished herself. _Relena, you're being unreal. Heero's your bodyguard for the week—don't expect so much from him._

Heero walked to the door and let himself out. "Goodnight, Relena." He looked at her once more over his shoulder, regarding her with a gentle expression. Then he shut the door behind him.

Relena watched him go, then let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. _All right, relax, _she chided her heart, which had skipped a beat. _You've got to remain professional with him. _Then she glanced down at the hand Heero had just kissed. Shaking the memory away, she went into her room and dressed for bed. After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she settled down in her large, four-poster bed and tried to concentrate on sleeping. Anxieties about the conference kept her awake, and she spent most of the night sleepless and frustrated. At length, her thoughts turned back to Heero. She could only hope he was sleeping more soundly than her.

Heero awoke early the next morning to hear a knock on the door. "Hmm?" He murmured sleepily. "Relena..." He had been dreaming about her, which was nothing new… though he wasn't about to admit that to anyone. He rolled over and attempted to get back to sleep, but the knocking grew more persistent. With a grunt, Heero swung himself over the bed and went to see who would dare interrupt his precious sleep. He yanked the door open, and there stood Adrian.

"Good morning, Heero!" Adrian greeted him chirpily.

"What do you want?" Heero growled.

Adrian laughed. "Not quite the morning person, are we?"

Heero only glared at him. "I'll say it again; tell me what you're doing here."

"Oh, right." Adrian held out a large bag of clothes. "These are for you."

Heero grabbed them with a questioning look, then slammed the door on Adrian.

"What a charmer," Adrian lamented, then shook his head and walked away.

Inside his room, Heero surveyed the clothes Adrian had given him. They were the uniforms of the Cinque government, a different one for each day. Heero laid them aside, then quickly showered and changed into a blue one. He decided to wait for Relena in the hallway, so he could escort her to breakfast and, then, her first meeting.

In the meantime, Relena stood in front of her bathroom mirror. She brushed through her long hair, debating whether to wear it up or down. She absentmindedly wondered what Heero would prefer, then decided not to waste anymore time and left it down. After a quick swipe of lip gloss and mascara, Relena smoothed her light pink suit dress, grabbed her black leather messenger bag, and headed out the door.

She found Heero waiting in the hall for her and stopped short when she saw him, whichwas a typical reaction. He always looked so dark and mysterious, it took her breath away. She couldn't help it; the sight of him wearing a uniform from her kingdom made her heart flutter.

Heero caught her eye and nodded to her. "Good morning, Relena."

She smiled. "Good morning, Heero. Did you sleep well?"

"Not bad," Heero said as they began walking down the hall. "You?" He didn't need to ask; he cast a sidelong glance at her and observed the dark circles under her eyes that she'd tried to conceal with makeup. "Hn," he murmured. "You were letting the world's troubles keep you up, as usual." It was a statement, not a question.

Relena shook her head. "I don't know how you always manage to read me like a book." She offered a slight laugh, but it turned into a sigh. Heero kept his eyes on her and continued to listen. "You wouldn't believe how often I went over my speech during the night," she said softly. "And I'm still not sure what I'm going to say this morning."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "You mean… you don't prepare a speech ahead of time."

Relena nodded. "That's right. I usually just say whatever comes to me in the spur of the moment. I mean, I always think about the issues thoroughly ahead of time, but... I guess I still get nervous." She lowered her head.

"No one can tell, you know."

"Hmm?" Relena looked up at him.

"You're very poised. When you're speaking you appear confident and elegant. No one would be able to tell by looking at you that you're nervous."

Relena relaxed a little. "Thank you, Heero. That makes me feel much better."

"Good." Heero let the subject drop. Neither of them spoke as they continued down the hall, and they rode the elevator in silence as well. It suited them both just fine; they were both consumed by their own thoughts, and neither felt pressured to keep a conversation going. Relena closed her eyes and visualized which points she was going to emphasize in her speech; Heero concentrated on his mission at hand. Part of him was worried that he might let his personal feelings for Relena, which were growing deeper by the minute, affect his job. Although he was hired to keep an eye on her, he couldn't let her distract him too much, lest he fail to spot any terrorist activity.

The elevator stopped, and Heero moved aside to let Relena off first. The two exited the hotel, then walked across the street to the United Nations building. Heero gently hooked his arm through Relena's as they crossed the busy intersection, flooded with the usual Manhattan morning traffic. Once they entered the stately building, Relena gave a sigh of relief.

"It's so crowded here," she gasped, brushing off her delicate pink dress as if the smog from the cars had rubbed off on her. Heero found her reaction to the city amusing and endearing.

"It's not at all like the Cinque Kingdom, is it," he murmured in understanding. He realized that his arm was still grasping hers, and he didn't bother to break away. Instead, he allowed his hand to rest on her forearm and lightly caress her skin. He wanted, somehow, to reassure her that she was safe with him.

"No, not at all," she almost whispered. She forgot what they were talking about, distracted by the way Heero was stroking her arm with his hand. Relena tried desperately to converse with him and smoothed her hair back anxiously with her free hand. "Oh, I must seem so frazzled. Do I look all right?" She glanced up at Heero timidly.

Heero was caught off guard by the question and dropped his eyes down to the floor. He didn't have to look at her to know the answer to her question; her image was burned into his mind. He could see the way her dress perfectly fit her increasingly womanly figure; the way the light pink color emphasized the beauty of her porcelain skin; the way her eyes, the color of the sky, shone with both tenderness and strength. _You look beautiful,_ was what he wanted to say. The words were on his lips, ready to be said, but his boldness wavered. He brought his gaze back to Relena.

"You look fine," came the toneless reply. Relena stiffened at his words, nodding her head resolutely. She untangled her arm from his and let it drop to her side.

"Thanks," she murmured flatly. Heero realized she was hurt and could have kicked himself. Even though he had not insulted her, he knew better than to hide his true feelings from her. He felt that, somehow, she could sense them. That was one of the reasons Heero was secretly afraid of her—she could see right through him. She saw all of the sheer emotion he kept hidden behind the eyes… She was the only one.

And now his curtness had driven her away. Whether or not she knew what he was really thinking didn't matter; she was shaken. Heero almost shared his feelings with Relena right then and there. He opened his mouth again, but he couldn't bring himself to say what was really on his mind. Apologies had never been his strong suit. Besides, the moment was gone before he had a chance to recapture it. Once again, the two walked together without speaking, but it was unlike the peaceful stillness they had shared just moments earlier, when it felt like they understood one another better than anyone else in the world; this time, they walked with a strained silence hanging over them, dividing the two hearts that had come close to uniting.


	2. Hysteria

**Chapter II**

**Hysteria**

_It's holding me, morphing me_

_And forcing me to strive_

_To be endlessly cold within_

_And dreaming I'm alive_

'_Cause I want it now_

_I want it now_

_Give me your heart and your soul_

_I'm not breaking down_

_I'm breaking out_

_Last chance to lose control_

_And I want you now_

_I want you now_

_I feel my heart implode_

_And I'm breaking out_

_Escaping now_

_Feeling my faith erode_

Car horns honked loudly in the thick Manhattan traffic. The sun shone brightly on the pavement, adding even more warmth to the crowded streets. The smell of freshly baked bread and coffee hung in the air, mingling with the stench that could only belong to throngs of people wedged in together. Adrian wove his way in and out of the crowd with ease. Trading his Cinque Kingdom attire in favor of a long black trench coat over simple slacks and a shirt, he blended right in. Not that he had anything to worry about, of course.

_No one will ever suspect me—I'm head of the Foreign Relations Department, for crying out loud,_ he thought. A smirk crossed his attractive face. _This plan is infallible._ Adrian went over the master plan in his mind as he slipped unnoticed into a warehouse building in the meatpacking district. No, despite the shadow of Adrian Guilermo lurking about, business went on as usual in Manhattan.

The room he entered was dimly lit, and he walked forward cautiously while his eyes adjusted to the new light. Small puffs of smoke and the faint smell of alcohol led him to his next destination. Heading up the creaky staircase, he heard a raucous whoop of laughter, making the meeting room easy to locate. Adrian opened the door to find a large group of men, all who appeared to be in their twenties and thirties, playing a card game while smoking cigars and downing bottles of beer. The room fell silent when Adrian entered, and all eyes focused on him. Looking at their expectant faces, Adrian planted himself in a chair at the head of the table and began to speak.

"I thank each one of you for coming here today. I'm glad to see you enjoying one another's company, but let's not let it distract us from the mission at hand." All of the men nodded and grunted their agreement, dropping whatever cards they held. Adrian continued. "Each one of you is a brave soldier, willing to do whatever it takes to make our point. For so long we have let the governments of the United States of America and the Cinque Kingdom treat us as their stepping stones while they achieved greatness and popularity. I know that you all despise the Cinque Kingdom and everything it stands for as much as I do. As you know, the United States has done nothing but help the Cinque Kingdom. We cannot let such a thing go unpunished; both the U.S. and the Cinque Kingdom will pay. Our voices will be heard!" Adrian clenched his fist for emphasis. With that, a spirited roar filled the room, and the men began whooping, slapping hands, and guzzling beer all over again. Adrian cleared his throat, and the men quieted into submission again. Adrian smiled slyly.

"Now, before we get too excited, we must go over our plan of action. Jason, your group is taking colony LX-316." A young man with sandy blond hair and brown eyes nodded enthusiastically.

"Nathan, you're headed for LX-316." A dark-haired man who looked about thirty grunted his acknowledgement.

"Gabriel, I want your group to surround the Cinque Kingdom when ready." A dark-haired boy with large blue eyes looked up in surprise, but nodded in agreement.

"Jabez, you and Victor are keeping your groups in New York. You need to help one another at the UN. This is perhaps the most crucial mission of all." Two young men who both appeared to be no later than twenty looked over at one another. Jabez wore his light brown hair in a low ponytail, his blue eyes sparking with interest. Victor's red hair was cut short, with bangs that kept falling in front of his pewter grey eyes.

Adrian turned to the rest of the group. "Your group leaders have already been assigned. I want you to find them and agree to meet again once more by tomorrow to go over the plan in more detail. Never come to this location again; do not even walk on this street. I know for certain we are being tracked by the Preventers, which is good for now. The more we confuse them, the better. Is everything clear?" A pin drop could be heard in the room, which Adrian took to be a good sign.

"Beautiful." He smiled. "Well, the business part is over. What do you say we have some fun now, gentlemen?" The men whooped their approval, and an intense game of poker ensued, the men focusing all of their zealous anger on the card game until they had the chance to attack a better target...

"Target sighted!" Quatre called cheerfully to his fellow Preventers.

"All right!" Duo punched his fist into the air enthusiastically. "We'll get 'em this time, just wait and see!"

Wufei smirked. "Don't get so cocky, Maxwell."

"What do you mean? This thing's in the bag."

"You're wrong Duo," Trowa said. "Think fast."

In a matter of seconds, Duo was on the floor pounding his fists. "Nooo!" He moaned. "I thought I had it!"

The other Preventers looked at each other and shrugged. Then they heard a female's voice say, "Playing video games again, boys?" The guys looked up to see Sally Po leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded across her chest. They all flushed, embarrassed.

"What video game? I don't see anything! Heh-heh..."

"Well, you see, it was only a game..."

"..."

"It was all Maxwell's idea!"

Sally just rolled her eyes and laughed lightly. "Well, just in case you're finished playing games for a while, I have some information on our current mission... That is, if you're interested."

Remembering what they were supposed to be doing, the boys jumped up to follow Sally out of the room.

"The FBI has dug up some files they thought we could use to find the terrorists," Sally explained as they entered the main control room, where they stored most of their computer data.

Quatre frowned. "But we're not certain there are any terrorists, right? I mean, we've only heard threats; nothing's happened yet. Remember, innocent until proven guilty."

"That's may be so, Quatre," Trowa interjected. "But we have to check out every single file on anyone we can find, guilty or not. You can never be too careful."

Quatre nodded and weighed the thought in his mind while Sally began to pull some files up on the computer.

"Now we're still not sure who the threats are coming from. We've been receiving them here at headquarters for the past few months. There have been a few more isolated threats against Relena Darlian's life, and we assume those originate in the Cinque Kingdom."

"Whoa, that just doesn't make sense!" Duo said, scratching his head. "Who in the Cinque Kingdom would ever want to hurt Relena? She's their royalty, for crying out loud! She's done nothing but good for them!"

"Perhaps not everyone sees it that way," Wufei offered. "For now all we have are cold, hard facts, Maxwell. Someone, or perhaps a group of people, threatened to kill Relena, and all we know is that they're from the Cinque Kingdom."

"Maybe," Quatre piped up. "We still don't know anything for sure."

"I think that the threats are definitely related. One of the latest threats warned Relena to stay away from the Global Summit here in New York. I think whoever these people are, they're trying to scare the American people at the same time and brace them for an attack while they try to kill Relena." Trowa leaned back, satisfied with his analysis.

"Well, there's still a lot of missing information," Sally informed them. "But here are the files from the FBI." She pulled up a list of names affiliated with the Cinque Kingdom's imperial guard."

"Wow," Quatre said in surprise. "I didn't know the Cinque Kingdom had any kind of military."

"It can hardly be considered a military force—it's more like a group of highly trained bodyguards," Sally explained. "Relena was reluctant to hire anyone, but the leader of the Cinque Foreign Relations department was insistent." Sally typed onto the computer as she spoke. "There," she murmured as a series of pictures appeared on the screen with brief facts listed beneath each one.

GABRIEL LUIS

AGE: 21

ORIGIN: CINQUE

JASON MARCUS

AGE: 22

ORIGIN: GREECE

VICTOR STONE

AGE: 18

ORIGIN: USA

NATHAN WAINWRIGHT

AGE: 30

ORIGIN: ENGLAND

JABEZ WALKER

AGE: 19

ORIGIN: UNKNOWN

Some additional information about these four men and the rest of the army was displayed on the screen. Quatre shook his head in disbelief. "Why are they suspecting these guys, who are hired to protect Relena? I don't understand."

"We're hoping that whatever was said in this group was a joke, because these are the last people we would normally suspect," Sally said with a low sigh.

"Which is why we should check them out first," Trowa interjected.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter who's doing it, as long as we keep them from destroying anything... and from hurting Relena," Quatre added.

"Hey, no need to worry—Heero's on it as we speak!" Duo stretched his arms above his head.

"Yes, but it's not like he's concentrating very hard," Wufei intoned sarcastically.

"Speaking of which, we need to focus on the task at hand," Trowa spoke up.

"Right!" The Preventers got to work tracking the new suspects.

Meanwhile, Adrian and Victor walked down the long hallway of the UN building. They stopped outside the conference room, where Relena and the other delegates were going to be meeting very shortly.

"Have the others departed yet?" Victor asked.

"Yes. William and Jason left this morning." Victor said nothing as Adrian pulled out his communicator and contacted Jabez, who was on the twenty-third floor preparing the final touches on their plan.

"Is everything ready?" Adrian inquired.

"It's all set here," Jabez reported.

"Excellent," Adrian replied.

Just then, Relena and Heero came walking out of the elevator towards Adrian and Victor. Adrian greeted them both with a wide smile. "Good morning, you two. Heero, I need to speak with you, privately," Adrian said without making eye contact with Relena. Heero nodded his response and followed him down to the end of the hallway, while Victor escorted Relena into the conference room. Adrian seemed to be waiting until Relena was out of sight and ear shot before speaking, but Heero didn't give him the chance.

"So, what was so urgent that you needed to detain me from my mission?" Heero said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall.

"Your mission?" Adrian laughed. "Both you and I know that Relena is more than just a mission to you." Heero raised his eyes in apparent surprise as Adrian continued. "Personally I feel that you may be distracting her too much. She needs her concentration, you know. So, I've decided that for the meeting Victor will be looking after her, and you can come back afterwards."

Heero stood up straight, slightly embarrassed that his emotions had become so transparent. Adrian's words had given him a shock. "I understand," he murmured, then trudged off in the opposite direction. Before he exited, he looked over his shoulder and gave Adrian a steely glare.

Meanwhile, back at Preventer headquarters, the rest of the team finished researching their files. Quatre completed printing up a copy of the information for Heero and passed it off to Trowa.

"I thought we would bring this to Heero; he'll probably want to see it," Quatre explained, scanning over the list in front of them.

"Hmm, I see..." Trowa said, more to himself than anyone else.

"I'm sorry, Trowa, did you say something?" Quatre looked up.

"Perhaps we should all pay a visit to Heero at the UN. I think that he may need some of our assistance."

"I don't know, I think Heero can handle things just fine, knowing him." Duo called from the corner desk he was sitting on top of.

"I agree with Trowa. I bet there's more to this than we're aware of," Wufei said as he shrugged on his Preventer jacket. He walked over to where Quatre and Trowa were, then Duo slid off his desk and joined them. Quatre picked up the last piece of paper that printed and put it in a manila folder with the rest of the report.

"Well, I guess that's it. We should be going," said Trowa.

Duo grinned widely and approached the others. "So, what's it gonna be, guys—cab or sub?" No one seemed to hear him as they headed out the door, each focused on completing the task at hand, but they headed to the subway nonetheless. A short while later, hey arrived at the UN building. They entered the lobby and were immediately overwhelmed by its vastness.

"I wonder on which floor the meetings are taking place?" Quatre asked rhetorically.

"Well, it's not like we have a lot of time to figure it out," Wufei remarked.

Duo scratched the back of his head. "Anybody got a clue? 'Cause I'm drawing a blank here." They all stood in silent contemplation.

"Excuse me." They looked up to see Trowa talking to a receptionist. "Could you kindly tell me which floor the Global Summit is being held on?" The receptionist raised her eyebrows skeptically at first, questioning why he would need such information. "Oh, I'm sorry," Trowa said, answering her unasked question. "I'm from the Preventers. We have some data for one of our members who's participating in the meeting as we speak. It is vital that we convey this information to him immediately."

The woman eyed his uniform admirably and smiled. "You'll find it on the twenty-third floor, cutie," she said in a thick Manhattan accent. She winked, and Trowa flushed slightly.

"Man, why didn't I think of that?" Duo smacked his forehead.

Trowa rejoined the group, a little red in the face.

"What'd she do, slap you?" Duo teased. "Next time, why don't you let someone who knows how to handle the ladies do the talking?"

"Let's face it, Maxwell; if you were doing the talking, we'd never get past the lobby," Wufei retorted.

"Hey, I don't need to be taking pointers from you, Wufei." Duo sneered.

Trowa and Quatre looked at each other impatiently.

"If you guys are just going to stand there all day, Quatre and I are going to leave and find Heero without your assistance," Trowa interrupted their banter. Wufei and Duo glared at one another before falling into step behind Trowa and Quatre as they headed to the elevator. Once they reached the twenty-third floor, they headed to the conference room and found two guards standing outside the doors.

"Oh great, another obstacle," Wufei observed cynically.

Quatre gulped and whispered, "Those guys look pretty serious."

All of them seemed unsure about who would approach them first. Trowa decided to step forward again and cleared his throat; but before he could say anything, Duo came from behind.

"Hey, we need to see someone in there right now," he said impatiently. He was getting tired of all the time this trip was taking. The guards looked down at him, unimpressed. Trowa released a low sigh and walked up next to Duo, who was stuck as what to next.

"We're Preventers, and one of our guys is acting as a bodyguard for Vice Foreign Minister Darlian," Trowa spoke in a controlled voice.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" One of the guards muttered, rolling his eyes.

"All right, you can see if he's in there," the other one said. He opened the door and let peer inside. He didn't see Heero, but did notice one of the guys from the list they had received at headquarters. He shut the door and turned to the others, motioning them to move further down the hall so that the guards could not hear them.

"So, was he in there?" Quatre asked.

"No, but one of our suspects is, so we need to locate Heero now more then ever."

"We should split up and find him," Wufei suggested.

"What are you guys doing here?" came Heero's voice from behind. Duo practically fell over from the shock, but managed to keep his balance.

"Sheesh, did you plan that or what?" he asked, only half-joking.

"I didn't need all of you to come down here. I can handle this mission by myself," Heero glowered. Quatre paid no heed to his glare and handed him the folder, and Heero's eyebrows rose as he accepted it.

"We just needed to bring you this; it may come in handy," Quatre explained.

Heero nodded and tucked it inside his jacket, suddenly causing the other Preventers to notice his Cinque Kingdom attire.

"Hey, where'd ya get the outfit from—Relena?" Duo smirked. Heero glared at him icily but said nothing, and Duo just smiled even wider.

A sudden commotion made them all turn around.

"Hey, someone call the fire department! Looks like a fire in there!" One of the guards cried. Heero bolted as fast as he could to the conference room door, where smoke was sieving out of the bottom.

"Relena!" He called out, pounding on the door in vain. "It's locked," he grunted, jamming the door handle. Trowa appeared behind him.

"The others went for help," he explained. "We need a battering ram." Heero frowned, giving Trowa a look that said, _and just where would we get one of those?_ They both nodded in sudden agreement, and started slamming their shoulders against the door. It started to crack, and the force of their third hit broke it open. Delegates ran out of the room in a stampede, and the two Preventers had to jump out of the way of the frenzied crowd.

"Relena!" Heero called again when he didn't see her with the others. He pushed past the crowd and disappeared into the smoke. Trowa stood outside, asking a few of the escaped diplomats what had happened. The crowd dispersed and smoke continued to pour out of the room. All of the sudden an explosion erupted, and Trowa to leapt away from the entrance. Flames shot out into the hallway, then disappeared. Trowa began to cough while lying on the floor. The shattering sound of the explosion had ricocheted throughout the building; upon hearing it, Quatre and Duo flew back down the hallway to Trowa's side.

"Trowa! What happened? Where'd Heero go?" Quatre reached out a hand to help Trowa off the ground. Before Trowa could answer, Duo was making his way inside the conference room.

"Heero and Relena are still in there," Trowa warned. Wufei came bounding from around the corner with a fire extinguisher, realizing too late that it was no longer needed.

Inside the room, Duo was trying to see through the smoke as he made his way to the back. There was no sign of Heero or Relena anywhere. He was about to turn back and call to the other when something caught his eye—a large black bag that looked more like a woman's purse than a briefcase. _Could this be Relena's?_ It rested near a pile of rubble in the corner of the room, and Duo quickly went to work uncovering the debris. The first sign of Relena was her hand, and Duo anxiously picked up the pace to get her out.

"It's all right!" He called to her. "Just hold on, okay?" He found Relena still conscious, but a little disoriented. Her dress was torn, and there was a deep gash on her forehead that needed immediate treatment. Other than that, Duo thought she looked all right in spite of what she had just gone through.

"Heero, is that you?" She murmured groggily. Duo rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "No matter what I do, it's never enough." Casting his ego aside, Duo scooped Relena up and carried her swiftly into the hallway, where she would safe with the other Preventers. Duo laid her on the floor and propped her against the wall, and Trowa quickly ran over to inspect her injuries.

"Did you see Heero in there?" He asked calmly as he tore off a piece of his shirt and began to dab the wound on Relena's forehead.

"No, I didn't. It was hard enough finding her. She was almost completely buried. I hope to God no one else is trapped in all that debris."

Trowa frowned. "But he ran in there. Heero has to be around, somewhere."

Relena's eyes flew open at the mention of Heero's name, and she had a brief coughing fit.

"Heero wasn't in there with me," she said weakly. "Victor was sent to look after me instead, and I don't know what happened to him. But I know Heero never even came into the meeting because Adrian sent him somewhere else."

The Preventers exchanged looks of astonishment. Relena didn't know that Heero had gone in after her, just before the blast went off.

"Relena," Quatre said calmly. "Try not to worry, but Heero is in there… somewhere…right now. He ran in just before the explosion and… we think he's still trapped."

Relena's eyes widened, and her hand flew to her mouth. "Heero? Trapped?" She tried to leap up off the ground, but grew dizzy and sank back down to the floor, holding her head. "Please," she looked up at the others with bleary eyes. "You have to find him!"

Trowa nodded resolutely and raced into the conference room. Duo gaped at him, then ran after him to the door. He grasped Trowa's arm and whispered intensely, "Are you crazy? There's no way you're gonna find him now! You could get trapped in there too!" Trowa ignored him and disappeared into the smoke.

"Fine, don't listen to me," Duo grumbled. Quatre and Wufei waited with him in anxious silence. Duo paced up and down the hallway, then pounded his fists against the wall in frustration. He drew them back and howled; he hadn't realized how much it would hurt. He glanced sheepishly at the other two Preventers.

"So what should we do now?" Duo asked Wufei, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

"What we need to do is find out who's responsible for this," he replied angrily.

Quatre was kneeling down in front of Relena with his arm resting on her shoulder to still her shaking. After a minute she seemed to calm down. Her eyes were brimmed with tears, and she wasn't looking at Quatre. He gingerly brushed her bangs off her face and murmured words of comfort, but there was no response. Panic surged through Quatre.

"We need to get her out of here!" he cried. "She's losing too much blood." He tried to pick her up, but she felt heavier than he anticipated. Her body swayed and fell limply into his arms. He quickly caught her again and glanced over at Wufei, his eyes desperately pleading for help. Wufei grudgingly went over and scooped Relena up as if she was an infant and carried her to the elevator, with Quatre running at his side.

"Okay, then… guess I'll just stay here..." Duo's voice trailed off as he shrugged and leaned against the wall. All of this waiting was torturing him, but he couldn't bring himself to go back into the conference room. He knew all too well what he would find in there. When he had uncovered Relena from the rubble, he knew how lucky she was that he'd found her in time. Even then, she was rapidly losing blood and consciousness. Heero had to have been the one to shelter her from the blast, or else she would be dead right now. That could only mean that Heero…

Inside the room, Trowa pulled a large piece of sheetrock off the inner wall. The smoke was beginning to escape out of the broken windows.

"Heero!" he called out for what felt like the hundredth time. Just like every time, he was met with silence. As the smoke fled and the perimeter of the room became more visible, Trowa could see Heero against the farthest wall, slumped on the floor. Tiny bits of debris clung to his clothes and hair. Trowa wasted no time and carried Heero out to where Duo was waiting.

"Come on, we have to get him to the hospital," Trowa urged. Duo was shocked to see Heero this way, but tried not to let that affect him as he and Trowa ran to the elevator. They were on their way down to the lobby when Trowa set Heero down on the elevator floor. As he moved away he noticed blood dripping off of his own sleeve. Trowa pulled opened Heero's Cinque Kingdom jacket to reveal a gaping wound that was still oozing with blood.

"This is the worst I've ever seen him," Duo whispered in horror, taking a step back. "Is he...?" His voice caught in his throat.

"No. Just unconscious," Trowa responded. But he knew the severity of Heero's condition, and it was imperative that he get treated right away; otherwise, it might be too late. The elevator stopped and both men carried Heero through the lobby, out to where an ambulance was already waiting. Quatre and Wufei were standing outside with a group of police officers and emergency technicians. As soon as they saw Heero, they carefully placed him on a stretcher and wheeled him into the ambulance.

"Nice job, Quatre," Duo said, knowing that he was the one who called for the ambulance.

"Where's Relena?" Trowa asked as he finally caught his breath. He and Duo had made quite a hike to get Heero to safety.

"Quatre called another ambulance for her, earlier," Wufei said.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Duo asked.

"Why don't you and Quatre go to the hospital with them, and we'll head back to headquarters to track down whoever was responsible for this," Trowa suggested. His green eyes sparked with fury. Wufei nodded his agreement, and the four Preventers went their separate ways. The driver's side door was open on the ambulance, and Duo curiously walked over to see the driver.

"Excuse me," he spoke politely.

"Huh?" The driver looked up to see Duo grinning at him maliciously. "Scoot over pal—I'm drivin'." Duo pushed the driver over to the passenger side.

"Hey!" The driver protested, but was called into the back of the vehicle before he could object any further. Quatre jumped into the passenger side and closed the door.

"Do you even know where the hospital is, Duo?"

"Sure I do. They know me pretty well over there. Hey, look, a siren!" He grinned and flipped it on. He peeled out of the parking space quickly, and the spinning tires screeched against the pavement.

Quatre fell backward against his seat. "Have you ever driven an ambulance before?"

Duo didn't answer the question directly, but gave Quatre a confident smile. "If I can pilot a carrier, I doubt this is much different." His eyes narrowed as he focused on finding the fastest route to the hospital. Quatre quickly fastened his seatbelt.


	3. Butterflies & Hurricanes

**Chapter III**

**Butterflies & Hurricanes**

_Change everything you are_

_And everything you were_

_Your number has been called_

_Fights, battles have begun_

_Revenge will surely come_

_Your hard times are ahead_

_Best, you've got to be the best_

_You've got to change the world_

_And use this chance to be heard_

_Your time is now_

_Don't let yourself down_

_Don't let yourself go_

_Your last chance has arrived_

_Best, you've got to be the best_

_You've got to change the world_

_And use this chance to be heard_

_Your time is now_

Heero squinted as a bright light came into his eyes. He moved his arm up to shield them but felt it being pulled back by an unknown force. He grumbled as everything around him came into focus. The first thing he saw was a figure sitting beside his bed.

"Relena?" He breathed.

Suddenly the figure crouched over him, and Duo's smirking face appeared. "Rise and shine, sweetie-pie!"

"What are you doing here?" Heero growled in response.

"Whoa, aren't we a little cranky! This wouldn't have to do with you nearly getting blown to bits, would it?" Duo laughed in spite of the grim situation.

"Where's Relena?" Heero cut in on Duo's joking.

Duo stopped chuckling and looked Heero in the eye. He knew exactly what Heero had in mind. "Man, you just don't know when to quit," he lamented, shaking his head. "You can't do anything right now, not in your condition!"

Heero ignored him and glanced at the IV connected to his arm. "Hmm..."

Duo's eyes widened. "Y-you're not serious, are you?"

A smirk tugged at the corners of Heero's lips.

Duo let out a low sigh. "Never mind; I can see that you are." Duo watched helplessly as Heero yanked the IV out of his arm and headed out of the room to find Relena. Duo winced. "Sometimes, I just don't get you," he muttered.

Heero headed down the hospital corridor, realizing that he had no clue where Relena was located. He also realized how terrible he actually felt, glancing down at the blood-stained gauze wrapped around his chest. He started to feel dizzy, and put his arm on the wall to steady himself. Before he could do anything else, Duo appeared behind him.

"I didn't think you'd get very far... especially since you didn't even bother to ask me where Relena is." Duo grinned as he slung Heero's arm over his shoulder to help him down the hallway. "You really got it bad," Duo observed. Heero couldn't tell if he was referring to his condition or his feelings for Relena. He decided he didn't really care and forgot about it until they reached their destination. Quatre was already in the room, speaking softly to Relena, who was now fully conscious. Even though she was awake, the blonde patient didn't look much better than Heero did. An IV was attached to her arm, giving her much-needed blood. She had a large bandage covering her forehead, and a few cuts and bruises on her arms. Heero wanted to rush over to her, but instead Duo helped him slowly take a seat.

She spoke his name softly as he sat down on her bed. She looked so weak. Heero immediately felt guilty that he had not been with her the whole time; he should have known that his leaving her side would only invite disaster.

"I told Relena what happened to you, Heero," Quatre explained quietly. Heero only nodded, keeping his gaze locked on Relena. His eyes wandered over her various urge, and anger began to swell within him. He couldn't stand this helpless feeling.

Relena could see the fury smoldering in Heero's eyes. She lifted an arm to reach for him, then pulled it back, wincing in pain.

"Don't move," Heero instructed, sounding sterner than he meant to. He tried to sound more soothing as he murmured, "It's all right."

Duo cleared his throat from the doorway. "Um, Quatre, maybe we should leave them alone for a little while."

"Oh! Right…" Quatre followed Duo out reluctantly. He turned to wave good-bye before he headed out the door.

"Relena," Heero spoke softly once they were alone. He brushed her hair back from her face and saw that some of it was matted with blood. "You're..." He paused. "I'm sorry."

Relena looked up at him, her features etched in worry. She reached her hand up, more slowly this time, and touched his face.

"I'm so glad to see you," she whispered, sounding a little hoarse. "I was terrified when Quatre told me you ran in right before the explosion. Then when it took them so long to find you, I feared the worst…" Her words dropped. She seemed unwilling to continue, and her chest heaved in sorrow. Heero said nothing, but took in a slow, steady breath and leaned his forehead against hers. They both squeezed their eyes shut and savored the closeness.

At length, he finally moved his face away from hers. That powerless feeling had returned, and Heero couldn't stand feeling so weak. Relena watched him closely. She sensed what he was feeling and rested her hand on top of his, wanting so badly to comfort him.

"Are you all right, Heero?" It was all she could think to say.

Heero was staring hard at the floor and didn't seem to hear her. "No, I'm not," he finally answered. "Perhaps I would be if I had done a better job looking after you. This… is my fault for leaving you."

Relena frowned. "What are you talking about? Neither of us could have known this would happen. You can't blame yourself."

"My job was to protect you, and I failed." Heero dropped his gaze back down to the floor. He could feel Relena sitting up on the bed, and he immediately snapped his head back up to look at her.

"Lie down," he ordered. "You'll hurt yourself." Relena smiled, recognizing his care for her underneath his gruff words.

"I don't think so, Heero. Notice that I still have my IV in." She pointed at the spot on his arm where he had obviously torn his IV out. Heero wasn't sure how much longer he could go before he needed more blood, but he wanted to stay with Relena. After what had happened, he never wanted to leave her side again. Heero couldn't ignore the feelings that began to surge inside of him. He was worried about her injuries and her future as a political leader, but he didn't know how to convey that to her with his words. He wanted her to be strong, but he wanted to be the one who was strong for her.

"You'll be all right," he murmured. He spoke the words as a statement, but Relena recognized the question in his eyes.

"So will you," Relena said back. "I believe in you, you know."

Suddenly Heero grasped one of her hands. "Relena, I need you to promise me something."

She blinked in surprise, but spoke serenely. "Anything, Heero."

"The war may be over, but apparently there is someone who doesn't want it to be. You need to be careful, Relena. I don't want you to feel like you have to hide from the world, so I will protect you as best I can. But I want you to be able to hold onto your convictions, at all costs. You have great faith, Relena. I admire you for that. Just don't let anything like this tear you away from it." Suddenly, he took a shallow breath and held his chest, groaning in pain. Relena carefully circled her arms around him.

"Heero..." She whispered his name as he gasped again, which came out more like a growl. Relena saw the wild look in his eyes and wanted to soothe him. Her voice caught in her throat as she felt him growing weaker in her arms.

"Please, Heero." His breathing grew raspier. Tears began to fall from Relena's eyes. "Please hold on..." Heero felt her warm tears against his face, and was touched by her care. He could not remember anyone ever crying for him before her. At the moment, he forgot about the emotional walls he had built to keep his feelings from her hidden and slowly wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Heero?" She whispered. He responded by lifting his face to hers.

"Relena…" He leaned in closer. Tightening his grip on her, he lowered his mouth to hers and drew her in. Relena closed her eyes, ready to cherish the sensation of his soft kiss. He had kissed her once, long before, but back then it had been so sudden that it was almost awkward. It had ended so quickly, she hadn't even gotten a chance to kiss him back. Now he was taking a more tender approach. Heero's lips were slowly brushing against hers when something suddenly hit his face. Hard.

Zech's fist made perfect contact with Heero's jaw, making an awful sound.

"Milliardo!" Relena spat his name angrily, then leaned over Heero protectively. "How dare you!"

Zechs stood by the hospital bed, breathing hard. "That was for not taking better care of my sister. I never did trust you." Heero only glared at him in response, his face growing hot.

"How could you do such a thing, Milliardo? Can't you see he's injured?"

"Better him than you. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't even be in here."

"That's not true. This was not Heero's fault!" All of the yelling was making Relena feel dizzy, and she tumbled back on the bed, holding her head in her hands. Just then, Noin entered the room and surveyed the scene before her. She saw Heero holding his bleeding mouth and Zechs standing with his fist clenched at his side.

"Zechs! I can't tell you anything!" she cried, storming over to him. "I didn't expect you to come in here and pull something like this."

"Noin!" Zechs looked up in surprise, and Noin glared at him disapprovingly. Zechs looked over at his sister, who looked even more upset than Noin. Heero regard him with his patented death look. Zechs grunted angrily and stalked out of the room. As he exited, he pushed past a bewildered Duo and Quatre, who had witnessed the confrontation from the doorway. The two lingered outside the room for a minute.

"Man," Duo jammed his hands into his jacket pockets and slumped his shoulders. "It just figures that when we finally get Heero and Relena alone together for a possibly romantic moment, Zechs has to go and spoil the whole thing."

Quatre just sighed and shook his head. "Duo, this isn't a game. Maybe we be should be keeping a closer eye on them. It seems that whenever they're left alone, something bad happens." He said this a little testily.

Duo gave him a funny look. "You okay there, buddy?"

"I'm fine." He, too, shoved his hands into his pockets. "I just don't think we should leave those two alone, that's all." Whatever he was feeling, Quatre seemed to prefer to keep it to himself. Duo just nodded in agreement to avoid stepping on the blond Preventer's last nerve. Everyone who knew Quatre well knew that he was, at times, a bit emotionally unstable.

"That sounds like a good idea," Duo agreed with him. "And since Relena has never pointed a gun at my head, I think I'd be safest with her while you keep an eye on Heero." He cracked a little smile. Quatre eyed him warily.

"Duo, Heero is not going to hurt you. Besides, he couldn't even if he wanted to now."

Duo rolled her eyes and laughed. "No, you just don't get it Quatre— I'd rather be with Relena than him! Does that bother you or something?" he asked bluntly. Quatre gave him an exasperated look, but said nothing more. Duo considered prodding him a little further, but didn't get the opportunity. Noin brushed past them as she left the hospital room to find Zechs. Quatre and Duo decided to head back in.

Relena was holding a piece of cloth to Heero's mouth to soak up the blood. "Heero, you really need to rest," she was saying.

"She's right, Heero. Come on, I'll take you back to your room," Quatre offered. Heero stood shakily and leaned on Quatre for support. He took one last look at Relena before limping away. Quatre turned to her as well and gave her a tiny smile as he led Heero out.

Duo moved to sit beside Relena's bed. "Busy day, huh?"

Relena smiled warmly. "And where were you during this mess, Duo?"

"That's sort of what I wanted to ask you. Do you remember what happened to you?"

Relena's closed her eyes as she thought back to the morning's events. "Today was the first meeting of the summit. I was in the middle of my speech when the room began to fill with smoke. Everyone started coughing, and, as the smoke grew darker and thicker, running out of the room. My head was pounding, and I couldn't see a thing. I tried to leave with the others, but I was on the podium and had a hard time stepping down. I managed after a moment, but then I dropped my briefcase under a table and tried to find it as quickly as I could. Then… Then the explosion went off near the podium. I remember having a bunch of stuff fall on me… and then you found me."

Duo shook his head. "I just don't get why this happened. Who was supposed to be watching you, anyway?"

Relena frowned slightly, trying her best to remember. Then it came back to her. "That's right! It was Victor. Adrian asked him to look after me because he needed to speak to Heero privately."

"What? Are you sure?" Duo could mentally picture the suspects list from the data they had back at headquarters. He was positive the list included a Victor. "Victor..." Duo mused. _Come on—you know this! _He sat pondering, and the rest quickly dawned on him. "Victor... Victor Stone?"

"Yes, I think that's it," Relena replied.

Duo stood to his feet quickly. "Thanks Rel; you've been a big help." He flashed her a smile before heading for the door.

"Are you leaving already?" She asked with a slight lilt in her voice. Duo realized she did not want to be by herself. With Heero unable to protect her, he understood why. He scratched the back of his head and grinned at her.

"Naw… I guess can stick around till Quatre gets back, especially since we don't want to leave you alone anymore." As he headed back to his chair, Relena laughed inwardly at how odd she thought Duo was. She smiled happily in spite of this and welcomed his friendly company.

In another part of the city, Adrian paced back and forth angrily. His mission to terminate Relena Darlian and Heero Yuy simultaneously had failed miserably. Now the next phase of his plan was in serious jeopardy. True, the devastation had caused the Global Summit to be postponed, which was an accomplishment in itself. However, as long as Relena was still alive, Adrian would never be able to take over the Cinque Kingdom. He stalked over to Victor Stone, who sat on a chair in Adrian's spacious sitting room. Victor looked up nervously as Adrian glared at him, waiting for an explanation.

"I-I don't know what happened, Sir," Victor stammered. Adrian cocked his eyebrows, as if telling Victor to go on. "There was no way Darlian could have gotten out of the room before the bomb went off. I saw everyone who left, and she wasn't with them. I did my best to ensure that she would get left behind in there. When I left, she was out cold."

Adrian furrowed his brows together. "That doesn't make any sense. An explosion like that should have killed anyone in there. Unless that Yuy got to her and somehow sheltered her, I don't see how either could have escaped alive. Do you, Victor?" His voice hinted at sarcasm.

The young man gulped. "N-no, Sir."

Adrian leaned down menacingly and grabbed Victor by the shirt collar. "And you are certain that a mistake like this will never occur again?"

Sweatdrops appeared on Victor's forehead. "No, Sir! I mean, yes Sir! I mean, I'll try harder next time, I swear!"

"Good." Adrian released the trembling boy. "Then you've just been assigned your next mission. This time, I need you to finish the job."

Victor looked up hopefully.

"Kill Relena Darlian."

At Preventer headquarters, Wufei finished saving the last of the new data to disk and leaned back in his chair, exhausted. It was close to three in the morning on the day immediately following the terrorist bombing. He and Trowa had stayed up all night hacking into Cinque computer data bases for the latest information on Victor Stone and the other men on their list. Duo, who had called and given them the tip about Victor, and Quatre stayed at the hospital with Heero and Relena to ensure their safety.

"Hey, Trowa," Wufei called. "I found an interesting report in Adrian Guilermo's file I think you should see."

Trowa walked over to Wufei and bent down to read the computer screen. "Let's see... Adrian Guilermo... head of the Cinque Kingdom Foreign Relations department. Last year he was second in command for the imperial defense group. Before that, he served as the Secretary of War in the country of Aurelia. Hmm... He was in charge of his own unit while he served in the Earth Sphere Alliance army. He also graduated from the Victoria military academy, just like Zechs and Noin. That's interesting."

"I thought you'd say that," Wufei smirked. "You do know what this means, don't you?"

"Sure," Trowa replied coolly. "With a military background like that, you never know what an individual of his status could be up to, especially since he went from being a military commander to negotiating peace treaties, almost overnight. It seems like his public career is quite gilded."

"I agree," said Wufei. "I think we should question him and find the whereabouts of these other men."

"Done," Trowa said resolutely. "Well, at least the latter part is. I found a list of shuttle schedules, and it seems that two of our suspects left for space yesterday morning, right before the UN bombing."

Wufei raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Do you know where they were headed?"

Trowa produced a disk and popped it into Wufei's computer. A complete list of shuttle flights and their destinations appeared. Trowa scanned down the page to show Wufei the list of passengers, and revealed that Jason Marcus had left for colony LX-316 at 9:00 Eastern time yesterday. It also read that William Alexander headed for L2 at point 74 at 8:25 Eastern time the same morning.

"That's near Duo's home," Wufei mused aloud. "I wonder what they're planning to do?"

"I'm unsure of that myself," said Trowa. "Which is why we need to check it out as soon as we can get on a shuttle. I'll report this to the other Preventers, and I'll volunteer to go myself." Trowa quieted and stared out the window, gazing thoughtfully at the dark sky. "It's been so long since I've been home... At least what I think of as home."

"At least you have a home to go back to," Wufei muttered. Trowa heard this but decided it was best not to reply. Trowa had never known what it was like to have a real home, as his childhood memories were lost to him. In fact, he couldn't remember a thing before two years ago. The only thing he knew was fighting as a Gundam pilot, and now as a Preventer. The only home he had to go back to was the circus family he had become a part of on colony L3. Trowa sympathized with Wufei, who had lost his home colony L5 two years ago. Wufei had the memories of a home where he belonged, only to have it taken away from him. Now the only place he seemed to have was with the Preventers. The others were glad he was at least on their side, and not searching for some other path to lead him to what he hoped would be the right answers.

Trowa and Wufei left the secured information for Sally in her office. The rest could wait until later in the morning. The two Preventers left the office to get some much-needed rest.

"Talk about a plan," Jason said to Nathan on his mobile vid-phone. "Hand over Heero Yuy or these colonies become vaporized." He cocked a smile. "Adrian's got this one in the bag."

"Don't underestimate the Preventers, boy," Nathan warned in his low British accent. "They are a lot keener than you think. I'll bet that they already have us figured out and are on their way to stop us as we speak."

"How predictable," Jason yawned. "I say the minute they find us, we kill them."

"Naturally," Nathan agreed. "Just don't screw up your mission and everything will go smoothly."

"It's yourself you should be worried about, old man," Jason smirked. "I don't screw up."

Nathan glared at the reference to the mission he had failed five years ago. He had been sent to assassinate an Oz official, but was stopped by a young Zechs Marquise.

"You need to keep your gob shut, boy. Just because you haven't failed yet doesn't mean that your record will stay so flawless. I can't wait to see that cocky smirk wiped off your face." With that, Nathan disconnected.

Jason shut his vid-phone off, annoyed. "What a great team," he muttered sarcastically. "Just you wait, Nate; this is one battle I won't lose." Jason left the hotel room he was staying in to walk around the L2 colony. His nose wrinkled in distaste. _This place is boring,_ he thought_. I almost can't wait to destroy it. _He glanced at his watch._ Plenty of time. Now to find something to do for the next twenty-four hours...  
_  
On the same colony, Hilde Schbeiker was heading out the door of her apartment when her vid-phone beeped at her to answer it. "I wonder who it could be," she mused aloud. She turned flipped it open to reveal Duo's smiling face on the screen.

"Hey, babe, how's it goin'?" He grinned.

"Duo!" Hilde's smile widened. "What are you up to?"

"Not too much. I just accepted a new mission; looks like I'll be coming to see you pretty soon here."

"Really? How soon?"

"Trowa and I are leaving tomorrow. He's dropping me off at your place while he heads to LX-316."

Hilde knit her eyebrows together in concern. "Is something wrong, Duo?"

"Nothing we can't handle. It seems some of our UN bombing suspects decided to head to the colonies, so we're going to check it out."

"Gosh." Hilde sat back, looking a little shocked. "They could be here right now. Who knows what they could be trying to do? I hope you can stop them!"

Duo smiled at her again. "Relax, babe. The God of Death can take 'em."

Hilde gave a little laugh before her face went serious. "The war's over, Duo. You shouldn't go around calling yourself that anymore. What would Relena say if she heard you?"

Duo frowned and shook his head. "I don't know, but I'd like to ask her why, even after the Eve Wars are over, there are still some people out there who don't want peace."

"I don't know either, but Relena is doing her best to protect that peace. It doesn't make sense that anyone would want to kill someone who is trying so hard to heal the world."

Duo leaned back on his chair and folded his arms behind his head. "I think these morons are trying to take advantage of the peaceful situation to take over and do things their way."

Hilde nodded slowly. "I suppose that makes sense. But it's so stupid. I hate to sound cliché, but why can't we just have peace in the world and colonies? Why can't people be happy with ESUN the way it is? They're not like Oz or Romefeller, especially with ambassadors like Relena."

"You and I know that, Hilde. But bad guys never learn. That's the way it always is."

Hilde gave a little smile. "And I suppose you're going to save the world, Superman?"

Duo looked at her seriously through the vid-phone. "I'll try, Hilde... I'll try."


	4. Ruled By Secrecy

**Chapter IV**

**Ruled by Secrecy**

_Repress and restrain_

_Steal the pressure and the pain_

_Wash the blood off your hands_

_This time she won't understand_

_Change in the air_

_And they'll hide everywhere_

_No one knows who's in control_

_You're working so hard_

_And you're never in charge_

_Your death creates success_

_Rebuild and suppress_

_Change in the air_

_And they'll hide everywhere_

_No one knows who's in control_

_Change in the air_

_And they'll hide everywhere_

_And no one knows who's in control_

Quatre sat next to Heero's hospital bed, reading aloud from the newspaper. Heero quietly tolerated it, but paid little attention. His thoughts were on the mystery at hand; who committed this cowardly attempt to take Relena's life? And, most of all, how could he find and eliminate them? True, pacifism must be respected in this hunt, but Preventers only followed it to an extent. The total abandonment of arms would not be possible to stop fighting, as black market weapons would always be sold. The best way to keep the peace seemed to be encouraging a weaponless society that only brought them out in emergency situations, but never to control defenseless civilians.

Heero kept all of these thoughts to himself as Quatre read on enthusiastically. Heero tuned in for a brief second; Quatre was chatting about a charity ball that had taken place recently. He seemed particularly interested in a feature story on him and Relena, then quieted as soon as Heero looked at him.

"What was that?"

"Oh, um... nothing."

Heero pulled the paper out of Quatre's hands to see a photo of a smiling Relena on Quatre's arm, walking down a red carpet. Heero could feel jealously rise up inside him, but said nothing and merely handed the paper back to Quatre.

"Nice picture," Heero mumbled, folding his arms over his chest and turning away.

"Look, Heero, it's not what you think—" Quatre began uneasily, but Heero held up his hand to cut him off.

"It's nothing."

Quatre hung his head, unsure of what to say or do next that would not evoke the Perfect Soldier's wrath. Before either of them had a chance to say anything more, Quatre's communicator sounded off.

"Quatre here."

"Desert Prince, you're needed at the tent. We'll provide the camel. Over and out." Trowa ended the brief conversation.

"That's your code?" Heero grumbled. "Kinda obvious." Quatre opened his mouth to say something, but Heero didn't let him speak. "You'd better get down to HQ," he continued. "Sounds urgent."

Quatre merely nodded and hurried out of the room, not wanting to face Heero Yuy again for the rest of the day, if possible. Once Quatre was out of sight, Heero picked up the newspaper article and reexamined the picture, trying to analyze the expression on Relena's face. She did look happy with him. They even seemed suited for each other; they were both public figures devoted to peace. Their union could even unite the colonies and earth.

With a low growl, Heero tossed the paper across the room. Why was he jealous? It wasn't like he had any claim over Relena; as far as he was concerned, she could date whomever she pleased. He had never made any real commitment to her, or her to him. _And yet…_ Heero recalled the brief tender moment they had shared on her hospital bed; it was the closest he had ever been to anyone. He could still feel her lips trembling as they met his, but the kiss was broken before they could fully connect. Heero closed his eyes, pushing the thought out of his mind. _Idiot,_ he chided himself. _She'll never love you..._

Duo smiled at Relena over the cards in his hand. "Your move, Princess."

Relena cocked a delicate brow and made her move, which turned out to be a mistake. Duo laughed and collected the cookies they had piled between the two of them.

"You lose again! You're terrible at poker," Duo teased.

Relena giggled in spite of herself. "Oh, well. I did try, you know."

"I know." Duo winked. "You just need me to teach you some tricks, that's all. Come on, let's start over."

In spite of Duo's coaching, Relena still found herself losing. Again, Duo collected all of the "winnings."

"Good thing this isn't strip poker, or you'd be feeling a draft!" He laughed gleefully.

Relena blushed. "I already am. These hospital gowns aren't exactly insulated, you know."

Duo laughed, clutching at his stomach. Relena began to laugh, too, and soon neither of them could stop. The joke didn't even seem that funny anymore, but Duo had a gift at making people feel at ease in upsetting situations, which Relena was beginning to appreciate. A dark, lonely figure watched them from the doorway. Relena sensed his presence and looked up.

_Heero._

Their eyes locked from across the room, and Heero began walking toward her. He tried to ignore resentful feelings toward Duo, who had obviously been flirting with Relena. Was she flirting back? Heero's thoughts raced, once again remembering yesterday's brief kiss. _What are you doing to me, Relena?_ He decided to forget about it; none of it mattered anyway. The only important thing was the mission at hand—keeping Relena safe. He could worry about her romances some other time. For now, he carefully sat down beside her on the bed.

"You seem to be feeling better," he said pointedly.

"I am," she said softly, looking into his deep blue eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Just fine." With that, Heero stood to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go see if there's any decent food here, other than the cardboard-like substance that keeps being sent to my room. Do you want anything?"

Duo's eyes widened, and he leaned over to whisper to Relena, "Am I hearing things, or did Mr. Stoic just crack a joke?" Relena stifled a giggle.

"Hn," was all Heero said in reply. Then he turned his heel and began to head out the door.

"Wait, Heero," Relena's voice stopped him. "Are you sure you should be doing all this walking around just yet? We were both in a serious accident yesterday."

"I'm telling you, I'm fine."

"I don't know, buddy," Duo spoke up. "You were hurt pretty bad. You're gonna have those scars for a long time."

Heero just smirked. "You have no idea," he said in his monotone. "I've never shown this to anyone, but…" He walked back into the room. "If you can keep a secret…"

He looked pointedly at Duo.

"What?" Duo whimpered. "You don't think you can trust us?"

"I know I can trust Relena with anything… You, on the other hand…"

"Whatever it is, your secret's safe with me!" Duo cried. "I swear on the grave of Deathscythe!"

That was good enough for Heero. This was something he'd felt compelled to share anyway, so Duo didn't really need to convince him; he just enjoyed watching his braided friend squirm.

Heero sat back down on Relena's bed and slowly undid the bloody gauze that was wrapped tightly around his chest. Relena gasped when she saw the results. Heero couldn't help but smile a bit at her reaction.

"Surprised?" He asked cryptically.

"Amazing..." Relena reached her hand out to touch him, but drew it back self-consciously.

"It's okay," Heero said. He took her hand and guided it along the area on his chest where, just yesterday, a gaping wound had been. Now, to Relena's shock, absolutely no trace of the injury remained—not even a little scar.

"How did you...?" Relena was bewildered. "You were almost killed! But now… no one would be able to tell!"

Heero just shrugged. Duo, who had been stunned into silence, finally let out a weak laugh. "I'm telling you; this guy just ain't human." Heero gave him a funny look, but Duo continued. "What are you, anyway—some kind of robot?" Duo chuckled at his own joke, then stopped when he realized no one was laughing with him.

Heero looked the other way. "I don't know," he said under his breath. Relena's eyes widened as she read the emotions on his face, something only she seemed capable of doing. She could see his fear. Hurt. Doubt. "I really don't know..." With that, Heero rose and went back out the door, his shoulders sagging.

Duo glanced at Relena worriedly. "Um… what did I say?" Relena just glared at him.

"We can't let him leave like that," Relena implored Duo. "Not after he opened up to us the way he did."

"You're right," Duo nodded. "Hey, Heero!"

The Perfect Soldier turned around to see Duo smiling at him.

"Why don't you sit and stay a while? You can play with us." He held up the deck of cards.

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Play?" It was as if the word did not exist in his  
vocabulary.

"Yes, Heero, please stay with me," Relena said eagerly.

Heero looked at them for a long moment. They really wanted to include him? This was strange. _Strange, but..._ Heero walked back to his friends. He felt that he somehow needed this human connection. Duo grinned and shuffled the deck of cards.

At the Preventer headquarters, Quatre and Trowa were discussing the latest developments on the case.

"I contacted Duo just before you got here. Sally has decided it would be better for us to leave tonight, rather than wait until morning. The situation just became more urgent."

Quatre looked surprised. "Why? What happened?"

Trowa gave a small shrug. "Something about a mobile suit factory they found near the LX colony. It's probably just left over from the Mariemaia incident. It shouldn't be anything to worry about. I'll take care of it right away."

Quatre nodded. "Good thing. We wouldn't want the enemy getting a hold of that... Whoever they are."

"Well, one of our suspects is headed to that area as we speak. That's why the situation has become so crucial."

Quatre shook his head. "This is terrible, Trowa. I hope he's innocent."

Trowa looked pensive, rubbing a hand over his chin. "And I hope he's the one."

"What? _Why?_"

"Because. That would make the manhunt a lot easier. At least we'd know who to look for. If this isn't our guy, we're back to stage one."

Quatre sighed. "You're right. I just pray this can be resolved quickly."

Trowa gave his friend a small smile. "Then keep on praying… We'll need it."

Quatre nodded. "How can the rest of us be helping while you guys are gone?"

"I'm not sure. Talk to Sally or Une. I assume that you'll just go back to the hospital to look over Relena, since Heero's condition is still unstable."

"Yeah…" Quatre got a peculiar look on his face, which did not get past Trowa.

"What's going on between you and Heero, Quatre?"

"Oh, nothing," Quatre said flippantly.

"You're not fooling anyone, the way you look at Relena. I think it's unwise of you to pursue anything further with her. You know how Heero feels..."

Quatre snapped his head up. "What do you mean? He doesn't seem to feel anything at all." Trowa was taken aback; it was a harsh remark coming from anyone, but Trowa was astonished to hear it from Quatre.

"You know you don't mean that."

"Yes, I do! Heero doesn't…" Quatre hesitated. "He doesn't deserve her."

Trowa raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

"Don't you see the way he treats her?" Quatre's face was reddening with agitation.

"Yes, actually, I do. He has risked his life for her many times and—"

"Only to amend for all the times he tried to kill her!"

"Quatre… Heero has no memories of ever having a family or anyone who loved him. In that way, I identify with him." Trowa paused to let his words sink in before continuing. "Relena is the only person he feels connected to. You know she cares for him deeply. Heero cares for her as well, but does not know how to reflect that to her. That is why you need to give him the time to learn to express those feelings. If you don't, and continue to try to be with Relena, it will be a betrayal on your part."

Quatre sat in silence for a moment, absorbing Trowa's words. He let out a low sigh.

"What was I thinking? Heero is my friend; I owe him my life! The least I can do is help him get together with Relena." With that, Quatre smiled, thanked Trowa, and headed back to the hospital. For some reason, as Trowa watched his friend leaved, he felt a sense of foreboding. He could only hope that Quatre had meant what he said.

Trowa and Duo departed later that night, and Quatre stayed with Heero and Relena as planned. Heero wasn't thrilled about that; as far as he was concerned, there was no need for Quatre as a bodyguard. If anything were to happen, Heero was confident that he would be more than capable of protecting Relena. The doctors, however, saw things differently. They were amazed that Heero's injuries were miraculously healed and wanted to keep him one more night to run a series of tests. Heero was unwilling, but eventually complied. He was a little curious about it himself.

While the doctor was testing a sample of Heero's blood, Heero decided to check on Relena again before going to his room to sleep. As he approached the room, he heard laughter drifting beneath the closed doorway. He recognized Relena's light giggle mingling with Quatre's. Heero glowered and trudged to his room. How long would things be this way? _It's not like you're a likeable, charming and social guy or anything. You're completely wrong for her._ Heero once again tried to block the negative thoughts. _I don't care. I just don't care._ Heero climbed in his bed for what turned into a fitful night's sleep.

When Heero awoke the next morning, he saw Quatre stretched out on a chair with a light blanket covering him. Heero was perplexed. _He slept in here?_ He frowned. _Why?_

Quatre woke up a few minutes later, and turned to smile at Heero. "Good morning. Did you sleep okay?"

Heero just glared at him, then turned over in his bed with a grunt.

Quatre sighed. He hated having a strain with any of his friends. He decided he should get to the point before the conflict between them deepened.

"Look, Heero, if this is about Relena, I—"

"I don't want to talk about it." Heero refused to even turn around.

"Heero, really, I don't want you to think that—"

"What did I just say? I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone."

"Okay," Quatre sighed and got up to look out the window, getting a clear view of the New York skyline. Heero ventured a glance in his direction. It was hard, but he formed his next words carefully.

"You...can...uh..."

Quatre turned to face him. "Yes?"

"You... can have... Relena."

Quatre's eyes widened. "_What?_ What do you mean?" Quatre lowered his voice. "I thought you... loved her."

Heero forced himself to shake his head. "I could care less. You're better suited for her anyway."

Quatre shook his head. "I don't believe you."

"Believe me," Heero growled, trying to disguise the pain in his voice. He spoke through gritted teeth, slowly punctuating each word. "I…don't…care."

Quatre approached him. "Before today, I wouldn't have doubted you. But now... I can see that you're wrong. I know how much you care for her, Heero. And frankly, I-I value our friendship more than this."

Heero cocked a brow. "You're lying."

Quatre swallowed hard. "No, I mean it. You've done a lot for me. I couldn't simply overlook that and try to steal your girl." He gave Heero a tiny smile.

Heero actually found himself smiling back. "All right. But..." He turned away from Quatre. "I think she likes you better anyway."

"Me? You're kidding."

"No."

"You're wrong."

"I'm not."

"You are. You should see her when she talks about you; her whole face lights up."

Heero gave him a sidelong glance. "I see you've been paying close attention to her face."

Quatre blushed. "No offense, but it's hard not to. She's very beautiful."

"I know."

The two former pilots matched gazes.

"She loves you, Heero."

Heero looked doubtful.

"I mean it! Go talk to her now."

Heero drew in a breath. "No, I shouldn't…"

"Go! Hurry, before you lose the nerve."

"It's not a question of nerve—I have that. I was a Gundam pilot, after all." Heero paused, but Quatre waited for him to continue. It was not often that anyone had a heart to heart with Heero Yuy. "It's...these feelings. I just don't understand..."

"Talk to Relena. Spend time with her. You'll begin to understand everything." Quatre looked at Heero intently. "She's an orphan too, you know. She faced the terrors of war as an innocent civilian but rose against it. I think she empathizes with you. You really should talk with her."

A resolved look crossed Heero's face. "I'll go." He looked at his blond friend, who was smiling encouragingly. "Uh... thanks, Quatre."

"No problem. Hey, if you can stop a colony from crashing into Earth, I think you can handle this whole Relena thing." Heero chuckled lightly at the remark, leaving Quatre stunned. _I actually made him laugh. Incredible!_ He peered at Heero more closely. _I think... He's changing._

Duo was enjoying a nap aboard the shuttle on its way to the L2 colony. At least his dreams were unaffected by the frightening events of late. His thoughts were of Hilde, and getting to see his home again. Then he remembered his mission. Duo awoke with a groan.

Trowa glanced over at him, his eyebrows raised. "Are you all right?"

"I'm good." Duo rubbed the back of his head. "Are we there yet?"

"Just about." Trowa answered. "I'd say another hour or so at our current velocity."

"Well, that's not so bad. Got any more munchies while we wait?"

"I think you finished it all."

"Aw, man!" Duo pouted, and Trowa rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I guess I should pack more next time, eh?" Duo yawned and stretched.

"Hopefully, there won't be a next time," Trowa murmured.

"Amen to that," Duo agreed.

An hour and a half later, Trowa prepared to drop Duo off at L2. "Is Hilde meeting you?" He asked his braided friend.

"Yup. She'll be a sight for sore eyes, that's for sure."

Trowa nodded. "Then I guess I'll depart. I'm going to drop in on Cathy on the way, so I have to hurry to get to LX in time."

"Good luck, man." Duo clapped his friend on the back. "Contact me as soon as you can."

"I will. Goodbye, Duo." With that, Trowa stepped back into the shuttle and headed to L3.

Duo walked around the spaceport, looking for Hilde. His stomach growled, and he remembered how hungry he was an hour ago. With that, he went off in search for food. When he reached the nearest concession stand, he found a smiling Hilde waiting for him.

"I thought I'd find you here first!" She grinned and gave Duo a big hug.

"Hey, babe," Duo laughed. "You hungry?"

Hilde slugged him on the shoulder, then looped her arm through his and began leading him toward the fast food line. The two instantly began to chatter and catch up on old times.

"How's the scrap shop going?" He asked her.

"Well, we've been getting a lot of old parts lately. I don't know what to do with them all! We could really use your help again, you know."

"I know, everyone needs me." Duo winked at her, and Hilde rolled her eyes.

"Get over yourself, Duo! I'm actually thinking of closing shop for good."

"Really? Is it that bad?"

"Well, no one has any use for spare parts anymore, especially with all the diplomats pushing to outlaw weapons. I mean, I know that's a great idea, and in an ideal world it would work, but… I don't know."

"What is it, Hilde?"

"Well, I just don't know how I feel about all this. I mean, the Gundams were a symbol of the colonies' freedom, but now they're gone. I don't always feel very safe without them. What if the new nation being established just controls the colonies again? We'd be totally defenseless!"

Duo turned to face her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hey," he said softly, "Relena is one of the people advocating for the weapons ban, and she's our friend. You can trust her, Hilde. She wouldn't let something like that happen ever again."

"I know, Duo, but it's still so... scary. Especially with what's happening now. And," she lowered her voice, conscious of the people around them, "what you're here to do."

"I'm just here to make sure you and everyone else on the colony is safe," Duo said loud enough for only Hilde to hear. "There's nothing to be afraid of... I promise."

Hilde smiled. "Okay, Duo...Thanks." She gave him another hug.

Duo accepted it gladly, caressing Hilde's back with his hands. He breathed in her soft scent and smiled, looking at his familiar surroundings.

"Man, is it good to be home..."

As Trowa stepped into the circus camp, the smell of popcorn and caged animals struck his senses. The familiar big top tent was above him, like a hot air balloon ready to ascend to the endless sky. This was Trowa's home. He hadn't been standing there for long when he heard a low growl coming from a nearby cage. He approached it to see his old lion friend. Trowa smiled and reached out to stroke its fur.

"Trowa!" Before he could even look up, he felt Catherine tackle him with a fierce hug. "I've missed you! What are you doing here, anyway?"

Trowa smiled and hugged her back. He was about to state his reason for the visit, when Catherine began to drag him into the tent excitedly.

"Oh, Trowa! Everyone's going to be so happy to see you! Come on, I—" Catherine stopped when she saw the expression on Trowa's face. She balled her fists at her sides and glared at him. "Don't tell me you can't stay."

"I'm sorry, Cathy. I wish I could, but--"

"Is this another mission? I thought you were through with those Gundam people!"

"True, we are through with Gundams, but I'm a Preventer now. My assignment is at another colony, so I thought I should drop by to see you again."

Catherine's eyes filled with tears. "I understand, but I wish you could stay. I've missed you, and I worry about you a lot. You're like my little brother."

"I know, Cathy. And you are my sister. This will always be my family. If I can, I'll stop by again on my way back. I have to leave very soon, however, as this mission is pivotal."

"Is it very dangerous, Trowa?"

"I can't be sure just yet. I have to survey the area first to determine that. I don't think it's anything out of the ordinary."

Catherine sighed and shook her head. "That's just what I'm afraid of, Trowa—your idea of ordinary is my idea of a catastrophe!"

"It will be all right, Cathy."

"Promise me you'll come back safely."

"I'll try."

"And promise to come back and see me soon!"

Trowa smiled. "I will. When is the troupe coming to New York?"

"Soon, I hope. Our earth tour is in the spring."

"I'll look forward to it."

After a little while longer, the surrogate brother and sister parted reluctantly, a tearful Catherine waving goodbye as Trowa's shuttle sped on to outer space.

On the LX colony, Jason surveyed the underground hangar with a smug look on his face. No one had been able to detect the storage area for forbidden mobile suits, thanks to a high-tech cloaking device. He had just enough Leos and Virgos to get the job done. _I'll bet old Nathan isn't having this much luck!_ As much as Jason disliked his partner, he knew they both needed to be successful in their missions. _Even though mine is much more important!_ He checked his watch and grinned. _It's almost time... I get wait to get my hands on that Yuy._

Two days after the terrorist attack, Relena and Heero were permitted to leave the hospital. Heero's injuries were completely healed, and Relena was feeling much better herself, although she was no Perfect Soldier. That day the two of them gathered with the remaining Preventers inside the headquarters' main control room to discuss the further actions they should take. Among them were Quatre, Wufei, Sally, Une, Zechs and Noin. Relena sat on the couch resting with Noin at her side, providing an amiable discussion. Zechs suddenly rose from where he was seated, his eyes focused on something across the room. Relena watched as her brother approached Heero, who stood with his back toward everyone else. As Zechs neared him, Heero stiffened. He was one person he did not feel like speaking to.

"What do you want?" Heero asked without turning around.

"I prefer to speak to your face."

Heero grimaced and turned to face him. Zechs stepped forward. "I believe I owe you an apology. I was out of line the other day. I know you tried to protect Relena..."

"I accept," Heero said with a nod.

Zechs nodded back and returned to his seat by Noin.

Relena smiled in Heero's direction. He could feel her eyes on him, so he turned to meet her blue-green gaze with his piercing blue eyes. Relena could feel her heart beat faster with just this single look. Remembering what he and Quatre had talked about the day before, Heero began walking steadily toward her.

Before he could reach her, Sally commanded everyone's attention. "There's an incoming message from colony L2."

"Is it Duo?" Quatre asked.

"No, it's—"

"Hello, Preventers," a man's lean face appeared on the screen.

"Who are you, and what is your business?" Une inquired.

"The name's Jason, and I have a proposition for you." He paused deliberately to survey the anxiety on the Preventers' faces.

"Get on with it," Heero scowled.

"Heero Yuy!" The man said genially. "I see you've recovered from your... accident." Then his toned changed. "We'd like you to come to L2."

"Who's _we_?"

"That's for you to find out!"

"Why should I come?"

"Because if you don't, we'll destroy the colony!"

There was a collective gasp in the control room.

Heero and Jason began a stare down. Finally, Jason snapped, "Well, are you coming or not!"

"How do I know that once I get there, you won't destroy the colony anyway?"

"You'll just have to take that chance, won't you?" Jason grinned wickedly. "Personally, I can't wait to blow this place to smithereens, but I'll at least wait until you get here."

Heero stared straight ahead for another minute, much to Jason's annoyance.

"Well? I need an answer here, or I'll—"

"I'll be there."

Jason smiled menacingly and leaned back in his chair. "Good. I look forward to seeing you." With a laugh, he cut off the connection.

As soon as Heero turned away from the screen, the others began to talk him out of stepping into this trap. He refused to listen and asked Sally to prepare a shuttle for him. Then he began to exit the room.

"Wait, Heero."

Heero turned to see Wufei behind him.

"I'm going with you."

"No. He only told me to come."

"But I need to fight them! They've violated our sense of justice!"

"I'll take care of them. Trust me. Besides, Duo is already there. I'm sure he's  
already had a good start."

Wufei nodded his agreement and stepped back. "This confirms it, then."

"Confirms what?" Quatre asked.

"Adrian Guilermo is guilty. Jason is one of his men."

"Adrian?" Relena looked up. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Wufei snapped. "Anyone can act like a pacifist. The man is a snake, Relena."

Relena shook her head in disbelief. "He visited me in the hospital yesterday... brought me flowers..."

"I'm telling you, he's the one!"

"Figures." Heero said. "I never trusted him." On that note, Heero turned his heel to leave. Relena sprung from her seat and beat Heero to the doorway, blocking it with her arms. Heero glared at her, and moved to step around her.

"Heero..." Relena held him in place with her firm gaze. "You can't just... leave like this."

Heero lowered his eyes, his expression changing. How could one girl weaken him so much? "I have to go, Relena. I don't have a choice."

"I know," she said softly. "But I don't want you to."

"Relena..."

"I wish you didn't have to fight again. This is supposed to be a new era, yet my fellow pacifists are trying to wage war on the new unified nation. I wanted so badly to create a peaceful world to live in so you and the other pilots would never have to fight again. I…I feel I've failed you..."

Heero grasped her shoulders. "Don't say that, Relena. You have no control over what others will do. There will always be someone who doesn't want peace, and we'll have to deal with them, and sometimes fight again. But that shouldn't make you give up your dream."

Relena tried to blink back the tears she felt forming in her eyes; she hated having Heero see her cry. "Heero... Be careful."

He leaned forward and gently caught a tear with his finger before it could fall. "I'm never careful."

Relena smiled. "Will you try to come back safely, then?"

"If that's what you want."

That seemed to satisfy Relena, for now. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

"All right, then..." They were standing so close together, Relena resisted the urge to embrace him. She was afraid of how he might react, unaware that Heero was thinking the same as her. Their gazes were locked, and they were each losing themselves in one another's eyes.

"Goodbye, Heero," Relena finally whispered.

Heero brought his face close to hers, their lips mere inches apart. "This isn't goodbye."

Relena brightened. "Then promise... to come back to me."

Heero blinked at her words, surprised at the personal implication. _She... wants me to live... for her._ Heero gingerly brought his hand up to caress Relena's face. "You have my word."

Relena breathed in, and Heero was gone. She was left standing in the doorway alone, watching his figure disappear down the corridor. She felt a little empty inside; she felt that she had been so close to reaching something, only to have it snatched away. She was afraid of what those people wanted with Heero. Were they the terrorists who attacked the UN the other day? Wufei seemed to think so. Whoever they were, Relena was angry; because of them, Heero would have to fight again.

Her brother came over to her and collected her in a warm embrace. "Are you all right, Relena?"

"I will be. I'm… worried."

"Understandable. But Heero can take care of himself."

"I know he can," she whispered, "I know." After giving Zechs a tight squeeze, Relena rejoined the rest of the group. "Well," she addressed them all. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going after Guilermo!" Wufei sheathed his Katana blade and fastened it at his side.

"That's fine," Sally said. "Find out all you can."

With a grunt, Wufei rushed out of the room, eager to defend justice. Une approached Relena gently. "Relena, you should stay here tonight; it's dangerous to go back to your hotel. We have a room for you next to Quatre, so let him look out for you."

Relena nodded her agreement. "Thank you for you help." Une just smiled in response, then led Relena to her room for the night. Zechs and Noin took nearby rooms as well, all so they might be able to keep the Vice Foreign Minister safe. Une and Sally continued to work in the control room, going over the data Trowa and Wufei had found on Adrian and his cronies.

During all of this, Victor Stone was seeking to fulfill his mission: _kill Relena Darlian. _He planned to do so as soon as he figured out which room she would be in. He had already checked the hospital to find Relena had been allowed to leave; she had checked out of the hotel as well. Her connection with Heero Yuy led him to the Preventer headquarters. Victor assumed Relena would be staying with Heero, until he got the message that Heero had left for space. Two other Preventers were in space, so that left only a handful of people to protect Relena. _They shouldn't be so hard to intercept._ That night, Victor stalked outside of the Preventer building, waiting to make his move.

Relena hugged her brother goodnight after promising both him and Quatre that she wouldn't hesitate to wake them if she needed anything. She was still feeling weak from the other day, which was logical. Her injuries still appeared serious, but the doctors felt she would do best to rest "at home." However, Relena was not planning on returning home until this situation cleared up and the terrorists were caught, no matter how long it took. Relena carefully slipped beneath the crisp, cool sheets and lay awake, thinking of Heero. She opened the window shade slightly to glimpse the night sky, wondering if she would see Heero on his "shooting star." Then Relena remembered that she was in the city that never slept, where the city lights outshone the sky. With a sigh, Relena shut the shade and climbed back into bed. Within minutes, she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Unknown to Relena, Victor stood below with his night binoculars. "I've found you, Darlian," he sneered. With that, he began his ascent to her window. Relena never heard the window to her room open—Victor used a special device to pry it open soundlessly, even though it had been securely locked. Likewise, she couldn't hear the floorboards creaking as the assailant approached her bedside. Quatre, however, lay awake in the next room, wondering what Relena was doing up; he knew she'd been exhausted, and it had sounded like she'd gone straight to bed. It sounded to Quatre like someone was lurking around; Relena would have no need to walk across her room stealthily. He wasn't going to take any chances, so he quickly leapt out of bed and opened the door to Relena's room. He found himself face to face with Victor Stone, who was pointing a gun at the sleeping Relena.

"No!" Quatre flew at him and the two began to struggle for the gun. Relena awoke with a start. When she saw what was happening, she let out a scream for her brother; before Zechs could reach the room, the gun went off. The sound of it rang horrifically in the small room. Relena watched in stunned slow motion as Quatre fell to the floor, his body limp. Her legs felt like lead; she couldn't run fast enough to his side. Zechs arrived just in time to apprehend Victor and wrestle the gun away, but the damage had already been done. Relena was safe, but only because Quatre had taken the bullet meant for her.

Zechs went with Relena to bring Quatre to the hospital, where he was placed in intensive care. After a few hours of waiting and hearing nothing new of their friend's unstable condition, Zechs escorted his weary sister back to the Preventer building, where he kept a much closer eye on her. Relena was awake the rest of the night, praying earnestly for Quatre's life.


	5. Space Dementia

**Chapter V**

**Space Dementia**

_Space dementia in your eyes_

_Peace will arise_

_And tear us apart_

_And make us meaningless again_

_You'll make us want to die_

_I'd cut your name in my heart_

_We'll destroy this world for you_

_I know you want me to_

_Feel your pain_

Heero's thoughts raced faster than his colony-bound shuttle; after all, he had a lot to think about. There was his upcoming meeting with the mysterious Jason; there was the link to the terrorist attack; there was his complicated relationship with Relena; there were the results of the blood tests he was still waiting for; there was the increasing velocity of the mobile dolls quickly approaching him; there was—_Wait!_ Heero turned his shuttle away just in time to miss a blow from the incoming Virgos. He knew they must come from Jason, or someone connected to the terrorist attacks. Heero concentrated on evading them with his weaponless aircraft and was able to make a hasty landing in a field on the L2 colony.

_Mobile dolls. I shouldn't be surprised._ After all, how could any self-respecting terrorist faction hope to make a devastating impact on the government without using mobile suits, or some other weapons of mass destruction? A message blipped on the screen in front of him, and Heero turned it on to see Jason's smug face.

"Heero Yuy. So good to see you. I see you've successfully avoided my little trap."

"You sent those Virgos?" Heero growled.

Jason chuckled. "Of course! Were you surprised to see mobile dolls in an era where weapons have supposedly been eliminated? Think again. Phoenix is invincible!"

"Phoenix?"

"That's our group's name. Oh, I see, you were probably wondering who was behind the terrorist attack all this time, weren't you?"

Heero glared at him angrily. "You...were the one who set off the bomb in the UN?"

"Oh, that wasn't me, personally. That was my friend Victor. In fact, he just left on a mission to kill Relena Darlian, since he failed the first time around. I understand that she's someone you're very close to."

Heero's eyes widened. "Relena..."

"That's right, she's probably good and dead by now, especially since you weren't there to protect her this time. I suppose you could blame me for that, since I lured you away long enough under the guise that I was planning to blow up this colony."

Heero felt ready to explode, but kept his cool on the outside. "Very well," he answered flatly. "What do you want with me?"

Jason looked shocked. "Aren't you going to show a little emotion, Yuy? Your girl is gonna die, if she isn't dead already!"

Heero didn't even flinch. He refused to let Jason's words affect him. He knew Relena was with the other Preventers, who were more than capable of keeping her safe while he was away; at least, he hoped so.

Jason was flabbergasted by Heero's lack of emotion. "Well, just for that, I'm going to destroy this colony anyway! But you might be able to save it, if you cooperate with me."

"What do you want?" By now, Heero was more than annoyed.

"I'd like you to come with me."

Before Heero could reply, a group of armed men in red and black uniforms surrounded his shuttle. They stormed the inside and took the unarmed Heero into their custody. Normally it would be much harder to subdue the Perfect Soldier, but Heero decided to feign defeat for the sake of the colony. Also, he hoped that getting captured by Phoenix would give him a chance to destroy them from the inside out.

Duo looked down from the top of a nearby building, witnessing the rough landing of Heero's shuttle. He watched as the men in uniforms swarmed the area.

"I thought something fishy was going on here," he said under his breath. "Who are those guys? They just appeared out of nowhere! And whose shuttle is that?" He peered to get a closer look. "Oh, well. Whoever it is, this doesn't look good. I'd better go check it out."

He hopped down a few stories at a time until he landed softly on the ground, all without making a sound. _Thank God for stealth! _He stayed a good distance behind the uniformed group to keep from being detected while discreetly following them. Suddenly, they stopped. One of them punched a code into an electronic box on the wall, and the ground beneath them opened. One by one, the men dropped into it, until they were all gone from Duo's sight. By the time Duo rushed over to the spot, the hole had closed over.

_Dang it! I missed it. _Duo looked at the electronic box curiously. _Hmm... Time to play guess that code! _Duo scratched the back of his head. _Ah, man, it could be anything!_ _Let's see here; those guys were wearing uniforms of some sort. It has to be the name of their organization. Maybe they're the remnants of White Fang or Treize Faction. _Duo tried both of these, as well as any variations he could think of, including backwards letters. None of them worked. Duo tried words that had to do with red and black, but to no avail. _Just my luck. It's probably some complicated number that only one guy has memorized. I'd better start looking for  
better clues. _Duo snuck around the base, including the area outside the shuttle. Then he went inside the aircraft, since the uniformed men had been courteous enough to bust the door down. Inside, he found the golden information he'd been searching for; one of the men had dropped an ID card of some sort. Duo bent down to analyze it. It had a picture of a young man with dark hair and eyes and read:

PIERCE WINSTON  
"BLUEFIRE"  
12179030

On the bottom right hand corner was an insignia of a golden bird with flames all around it. "That's one weird-looking bird! Well, I'd better start punching in some of this stuff if I want to get in their secret hideout." Duo grinned and headed back to the single building. When he reached the box, he tried everything on the card, forward and backward, and mixed them up as well. Still, nothing worked. _Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. Maybe... it has nothing to do with the information on this card. _Duo looked down at the ID in his hand, examining the insignia more closely. _What kind of bird is that? Looks like something I read about in a story once..._ Duo's eyes widened, as he remembered reading about a Phoenix in a Greek myth when he was a kid.

_Duh! It's the bird! Phoenix!_ Duo typed this in, but the hole did not open. He tried it backwards. Nothing. _One last resort_… Duo mentally calculated the numeric value of "phoenix." The box beeped, and the ground opened.

"Bingo," Duo smiled. "Now let the games begin!" With that, he leapt down the hole and began a long descent down a metal slide. _Why is it that secret organizations always have the coolest stuff? The Preventers oughta get one of these!_

Duo realized that he was going faster the closer he came to the end of the slide, and would probably make a noticeable landing. _Great. Talk about discreet_. He sat up as straight as he could to slow himself down. By the time he neared the bottom, he had slowed to a snail's pace and was able to climb off the slide quietly. Upon landing, he surveyed the area—a large, empty room with metallic walls.

_Where did all those red guys go? They've gotta be around here somewhere…_ Duo started to snoop around, even though there wasn't much to see. He saw that in order to leave the room, he had to punch in another code. He tried the same one from earlier, and was stunned to see that it worked. _These guys aren't too bright. A little variation would be smarter. Matter of fact, their whole code is way too easy; Heero could figure it out in seconds. Then again, he _is _some kind of robot… _

Duo's thoughts were interrupted when what he saw in the next room made his jaw drop: Hundreds of gleaming mobile suits that looked like they'd never been accessed.

"No way!" He couldn't help but exclaim out loud. "Where'd they get these?" Before Duo could explore the hangar, a strong hand clamped over his mouth with a cloth. Duo grunted in surprise before falling to the ground, unconscious.

"Take him into the cell for questioning," Jason ordered. "I'll deal with him later. First, I have to eliminate Yuy."

"Roger," a young soldier agreed, and proceeded to drag Duo away.

It was morning in New York City, and Relena sat in the hallway outside the hospital's ICU, waiting patiently to see Quatre. As grateful as she was for his noble sacrifice, she couldn't help but feel guilty about it.

_Poor Quatre. You never deserved this; they were after me!_ She buried her face in her hands. After a moment, she felt a light hand on her shoulder.

"Are you all right, Miss Relena?" An eerily familiar voice inquired sweetly.

"Dorothy?" Relena looked up to confirm the voice's owner. "Dorothy Catalonia! It's... been a long time."

"Yes, it has. It's a shame we never kept in touch." Dorothy leaned down to give her a little hug. Relena hugged her back, not quite sure whether or not to interpret Dorothy's actions as sincere. She decided to, for now; she was too tired to question anyone.

"I heard about poor Quatre on the news," Dorothy said, sitting beside Relena, "and rushed right over here. Luckily, I was in the area, so it didn't take me long."

Relena nodded and let her gaze drift back to the closed doors of the ICU. The doctors still wouldn't allow anyone to see Quatre.

"You mustn't feel guilty about this, Relena; it wasn't your fault." Relena wondered how Dorothy could read her thoughts. "Quatre wanted to do this for you, or else he would not have risked it. Don't you see?" Relena just nodded again. "Try not to worry. Quatre can overcome this; he is a strong warrior."

"But he doesn't have to be!" Relena's head snapped up. "There should not be anymore fighting! That time has passed."

"Ah, that is where you're wrong, Miss Relena. No matter what you do, people will always have the instinct to fight."

"Even after witnessing such a terrible war? That's preposterous!"

"No, it's human nature. You cannot expect to change the course of humanity, can you?" Relena was getting very annoyed, very quickly, and Dorothy noticed. "I happen to know," Dorothy said with a flip of her hair, "that someone is trying to  
wage another war."

"And how do you know?" Relena peered at her.

"I heard about a mobile suit factory that has yet to be destroyed... Or perhaps it's been newly created. Either way, someone desires another battle. And why not? It is perfectly natural, after all."

Relena thought for a moment. Dorothy was not trying to make the pacifist leader angry; this was her way of conveying vital information so Relena could put a stop to something before it started. Relena really should thank her... once she found out where this factory was. She began by changing the subject, using female intuition. She knew there was something else that had brought Dorothy Catalonia to New York.

"Dorothy, are you here to see Quatre?"

"Why, yes, of course. I had to wish him well after the accident. It's a terrible thing that happened."

"But you said you were already in the area—May I ask why?"

"Well... If you must know, I came to see the Preventers."

"One in particular?"

Dorothy blushed a little. "Yes. I felt I owed Quatre an apology, after my actions during the war. I haven't spoken to him since then, so I thought it was time. That's all."

"I see," Relena said with a satisfied smile. Dorothy was catching on.

"Do you think I have a crush on Mr. Quatre?"

"I don't know. That's for you to decide."

Dorothy leaned back in her seat and thought for a moment. "Perhaps I do. But it doesn't matter now. I was hoping... to undo the wrong I've done against him."

"You wish to make peace with him, and that is understandable." Relena touched Dorothy's hand. "I can help you, if you wish."

Dorothy raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"I… have my ways. But I must ask something of you first."

"That's fine. I will tell you what you want to know." Dorothy beamed. "It is wonderful that we can help one another."

"Yes," Relena smiled. "Wonderful, indeed."

Meanwhile, Wufei was crouched outside of the hotel Adrian Guilermo was staying in, waiting for any sign of his appearance. After spending the night searching the city for him, he had come here, figuring that the man had to sleep sometime. After a while, Wufei found what he had been waiting for; Adrian emerged from the hotel's front doors and headed across the street.

Wufei grinned to himself. "So... The dragon finally stirs from his lair." He began the lengthy process of tracking Adrian down. Wufei followed him for blocks, staying several paces behind him so as not to be detected. It was hardly an easy task, however; Adrian kept making sudden twists and turns, as if he knew he was being followed. Finally, they came to an abandoned warehouse, and Adrian began to scale the fire escape.

_Now it's obvious that he's trying to be avoided!_ Wufei thought. He hid in the shadows and watched Adrian's ascent, trying to think of a way to watch him without being seen himself. Before he could execute a plan, Adrian leaned  
over the top of the small building and yelled down to Wufei.

"Hey! Aren't you going to follow me? I haven't been able to lose you since 55th street!"

Wufei snapped his head up in alarm. 'He knew I was there all along!'

"Come on! What are you waiting for?" Adrian gestured to the fire escape. Wufei had been seen; he had no choice now but to climb. A few minutes later, he was standing on the roof with his target.

"You're suspicious of me, aren't you, Mr. Chang?" Adrian faced Wufei.

"Suspicious? Ha! I know you're guilty!"

"Guilty? Of what?"

"Don't play innocent now. The damage has already been done. Because of you, three of my friends were hospitalized, and two of them are fighting your men in space!"

"How do you know this for sure, Wufei?" Adrian still tried to maintain an air of innocence while mocking the Preventer. "You're so positive that all of the evidence points to me."

Wufei glared at him. "How do you know my name?"

Adrian looked momentarily shocked. "Why, from Miss Relena, of course. She often mentions her Preventer friends."

"Liar! Wufei yelled hotly. "It's because you keep a file on us. All the events of this week were carefully plotted by your design. You hired Heero to protect Relena so you could kill them in the UN bombing. When that didn't work, you sent Heero to space to fight someone who threatened to blow up L2." The facts were falling into place like puzzle pieces, and Wufei's voice rose along with his anger.

"You're going to have Heero killed on L2 because that's where your secret mobile suit factory is! There's no way he can defend himself in his unarmed shuttle! And you waited until he was gone to try and assassinate Relena again!"

Adrian laughed dryly. "My, my… You think you're quite smart, don't you?"

"Why don't you just admit it—you're guilty!"

"I think that would be giving up too easily, don't you? Besides, the fun has barely begun! I still have to storm the Cinque Kingdom, and activate all of my mobile dolls!"

Wufei stepped forward threateningly, balling his fists at his sides. "Why the hell are you doing this?"

"Because I hate the colonies. I hate the unified nation Relena Peacecraft is trying to establish. Put them together, and I hate the idea of the Earth and the colonies becoming one! The colonies were pompous enough to defy us in the last war, yet now they say they are seeking peace, and they're clinging to an Earth leader to fulfill their selfish desires. But they are filthy rags that do not deserve to be a part of the true humanity that only belongs to Earth! I will see that every last one of them is destroyed!"

He laughed louder this time, and Wufei rushed up to him, unsheathing his katana. Adrian delivered a swift kick to Wufei's stomach, causing him to drop the blade and fall on his back.

Adrian picked up the sword and examined it closely. "Nice katana," he said, holding it up so it gleamed in the morning sunlight. "Too bad you're such a pathetic swordsman." He tossed it aside carelessly and knelt in front of Wufei.

"You consider yourself a knight of the colonies, don't you? Yet your home was obliterated years ago. Why do you care, then, if I terminate the rest of the colonies? You are a strong fighter. Why don't you join me in my quest? That way, when I've wiped out the rest of the former Gundam pilots, you'll be on the winning side."

Wufei stood slowly. "I'm afraid I can't help you there. I'm not a strong soldier  
anymore. I'm as weak as the rest of humanity, yet I will continue to fight you!" He lunged forward, eager to go at it again. Before he could do anything, a helicopter sounded overhead, causing both young men to look up.

"That's my ride," Adrian grinned. "Remember all I've told you, Wufei. Go, ahead, run and tell all your friends. Perhaps you will be able to catch me... But I doubt it." Adrian caught hold of a dangling rope and was pulled into the helicopter. Wufei watched, stunned, as his adversary flew away. Then Wufei snapped out of it, and leapt off the short building into the alley below. He ran out to the street and hailed a taxi cab to take to headquarters.

'I'm not letting anyone near the colonies. Adrian Guilermo, you will be defeated!'

A short time later, Wufei reached headquarters and ran inside to the control room. Sally, Une, and Noin were the only ones present.

Breathless, Wufei stopped in front of the women and blurted out his news. "I have confirmed that Adrian is guilty."

Noin raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"He told me so, woman! His next target is the Cinque Kingdom. We must hurry!"

No one doubted the former Gundam pilot's words. All four of them sprang into action. "I'm calling the palace to warn them to be on the highest alert," Noin called, racing to a nearby vid-phone.

"Wufei, you and I will head to Cinque. I'll ready a plane for us at the airport. You call for backup," Sally said.

"Right," Wufei nodded curtly.

"And I'm going to check the computer data to see if anyone of Adrian's men left for Europe yet. Perhaps we can stop them before we get there," Une said.

Moments later, Noin and Wufei were both off the phone.

"Did you call for backup yet, Wufei? You know the Cinque Kingdom is pretty much defenseless from any attack," Sally asked him.

"I just did. We've arranged to meet at a rendezvous point outside the Kingdom's border."

"Excellent," Sally commented. "I think we're ready to go."

Just then, Relena ran into the room with Zechs on her heels. "Sally! I need a shuttle ready, and fast!"

"Whoa! Calm down, Princess! What is it?"

"Dorothy told me about a mobile suit factory in space that has yet to be shut down! We've got to get there before our enemy does and destroy it!"

Une looked up. "But, Miss Relena—"

"I'll go check it out," Zechs volunteered. He turned to his sister. "But you're not going!"

She stiffened. "Yes, I am. I went to just about every MS plant I could and personally made sure that it was shut down. It's part of my job description as Vice Foreign Minister." Then her tone changed. "Besides, Trowa, Duo and Heero are in space now, and they're defenseless against that kind of threat. I-I wouldn't want…"

"I'm sure Heero knows how to take care of himself, Relena," Zechs muttered. "You'd probably only get in the way."

Relena remained firm, saying stubbornly, "I need to go there, Zechs. I owe it to the people. I should've spotted this long ago."

Zechs glared at her for a minute, then sighed. "Very well," Zechs said, signaling his defeat. "Sally, please prepare a shuttle for us."

Relena looked up questioningly, and Zechs met her gaze. "But I'm still going with you."

Back on L2, Duo awoke to unfamiliar surroundings. Then he remembered what had happened to him. "Man!" He groaned. "I _hate_ getting captured! Why does it always have to be _me_?"

His head was killing him, so he tried to rub it with his hands, only to discover they were chained behind his back. "Big pockets sure come in handy!" Duo twisted one of his hands to reach into his pocket and fished out a pin. He painstakingly picked the lock on the chains, freeing one hand at a time. When he was done, he cracked his wrists and prepared to break down the door. He stepped back to the end of the room and ran forward at full speed, thrusting himself into the door.

Before his body even touched it, however, it swung open. A stunned Duo fell flat on his face in the hallway. Jason stood behind the open door, laughing.

"I can't believe you _fell_ for that! Ha-ha! Get it?"

Duo jumped up angrily. "Very funny! Now there are a few things I'd like to know about you, buddy."

"You're the one who infiltrated my base, so I'm the one who should be asking the questions here!"

"I'm here to see why the heck you're manufacturing mobile suits! In case you haven't noticed the war's bee over for a long time, pal."

"As far as we're concerned, the war is just beginning—the true war against the colonies that Earth won't lose!"

Duo's eyes widened. "War against the colonies? What the heck for?"

"Because they should have nothing to do with ESUN! They must be terminated forever, beginning with this one!"

Duo let out an angry yell. "Why, you're just a no-good, pompous, egg-sucking piece of gutter trash!"

"I dare you to say that again!"

Duo chuckled. "Oh, yeah? You dare me, huh? Well, then, you no-good—Ugh!"

Duo moaned as Jason punched him hard in the jaw. Duo lashed back with an upper cut into Jason's stomach. A bloody fistfight ensued. Jason grabbed Duo's braid and yanked, causing Duo to react so strongly that he kicked Jason in the side. Jason fell but was up in seconds to retaliate, coming up behind Duo and pulling on his right arm with brute strength. Duo let out a pain-stricken howl; Jason had just pulled Duo's arm right out of the socket. He was defeated. Jason kicked him back into the cell and locked the door shut.

"I'd like to see him try to escape now," Jason laughed menacingly as he walked away. "Now to find that Yuy. I can't believe he escaped his cell without security detecting it! No matter. I'll find him and kill him with my bare hands!" He turned out of the hall and down another corridor. Little did he know a pair of dark blue eyes watched his every move.

Duo slumped against the cell wall, holding his arm. "Why?" He whimpered. "Why, why, why?"

"Quit crying already. It can't be that bad." A familiar voice said from the doorway.

"Yeah, well that's coming from a superhuman who can heal any injury at will. Sure, you're a lot of help..." Duo gasped when he realized that, standing at the now-opened doorway to freedom, was none other than Heero Yuy.

"Hey, buddy boy, it's really you! And here I thought you were just a figment of my imagination."

"I suggest you take that snide comment back," Heero said as he entered the cell. "I'm about to help you escape." He hooked Duo's good arm around his shoulder as the other one hung limply at Duo's side. Heero eyed the injury, then looked Duo in the eye.

"How's your trigger finger?"

"How do you think?" Duo made an effort to move his busted arm.

Heero shrugged. "I could fix that for you."

"Nooo way, pal! I've seen the way you operate." Duo gulped. "It looks mighty painful!"

"All you have to do is get it pushed back into place. You could do it yourself. Just slam it against the wall a few times; it should pop back in easily."

"Ugh!" Duo grimaced. "That's disgusting!"

"It works."

"I'll just, uh, worry about that later… For now, let's get out of here!"

Heero nodded. "Roger that."

Before Duo knew what was happening, Heero grabbed a hold of Duo's arm. Much to Duo's protesting, Heero held it with one hand and pushed on it with the other until he heard a few satisfying cracks.

"Ow! Ow! OWW!" Duo wailed. "That hurt worse than getting it dislocated!"

"Oh, well. It's fixed now."

"Geez! I'm never letting you touch me again."

"Whatever. Here." Heero tossed Duo a gun. The braided Preventer stared down at it blankly.

"But, Heero, I thought—"

"The bullets are blanks," Heero explained. "It'll help scare the soldiers. In the meanwhile, we can steal a couple of their mobile suits." He gave Duo a sidelong glance. "That is, if you're up for it."

Duo grinned. "Of course! I don't mind playing the God of Death again... at least, for a little while."

The two former Gundam pilots raced off to the hangar. When they reached it, they saw some of the Phoenix soldiers milling about. Duo quickly hid behind a wall while Heero remained in the open.

"Heero!" Duo hissed. "What are you doing! We gotta use stealth to sneak up on 'em!"

"Stealth?" Heero cocked an eyebrow. "What's the point?" To his comrade's horror, Heero began firing his blanks at the soldiers. To the Perfect Soldier's satisfaction, chaos ensued.

"Ahh!"

"Hey! Someone's firing!"

"That guy up there!"

"But we don't have any weapons!"

"Go get some, idiots!"

"Run! Run for your lives!"

"I found my gun! Quick!"

"I-I can't find mine!"

"Run away! Hurry!"

"You morons! Those are blanks!"

"How can you tell?"

"If you can't tell the difference between blanks and bullets, you shouldn't be a soldier!"

"Oh... Hey, those _are_ blanks!"

"Told you!"

"Let's go get him!"

"Yeah!"

The group of soldiers rushed forward. When they reached Heero, some pulled out guns and began firing. Heero neatly dodged their bullets and flipped onto the mobile suit bay below. Duo took this as his cue and crated a diversion of his own to get away. A smoke grenade he'd been keeping in his pocket added to the soldiers' confusion, and Duo joined Heero on the lower area.

"This way!" Heero yelled.

Duo raced to follow him. Heero leapt inside a Leo, and Duo took the one next to him. Then, being careful not to fire where any of the soldiers were, they began the process of shutting the factory down by quickly destroying every Leo and Virgo in sight.

"This side's done!" Duo called. "Now what?"

"It would be far too easy if this was the only hangar," Heero answered. "Let's split up to make sure we get them all."

"Roger!"

Duo and Heero separated. A short while later, Heero had just finished destroying his third hangar and was about to contact Duo and inform him that the mission was complete. However, another mobile suit was coming up behind Heero, and it wasn't Duo. Heero turned the Leo around to face the approaching Taurus.

"Heero Yuy, I thought I'd find you here," Jason sneered.

"You've failed, Jason. We've destroyed every last mobile suit and doll. I suggest you surrender while you have the chance."

"Is that a threat? I thought Preventers don't kill."

"We don't. I made a promise after the war that I'd never kill again."

"How foolish," Jason laughed.

"However," Heero continued, "if you continue to provoke me, I just might have to break that promise."

Jason paled, but didn't want to let Heero detect his fear. "I'll give you a good reason to kill me, Yuy. You may have destroyed my MS, but you haven't even touched my beam cannon. It's aimed right at L2-74. What do you plan to do about that?"

"I'm going to stop you."

"Huh? That's strange," Jason quipped sarcastically. "I thought that your pacifist girlfriend won't let you fight!"

Heero calmly answered Jason's taunt. "I'm going to fight you with peace in mind. You want to destroy the colonies because you feel they are unfit to coexist with Earth. However, peace will only be attained when the two are united. This peace can only be last if people are willing to fight for it." Heero paused. "Besides, I already told you… I'm willing to kill you if it will save the people on this colony. Even Relena would have to agree with that."

"Oh yeah?" Jason sniffed. "Too bad she's dead now, isn't it?"

Heero gritted his teeth. "That's it. You really do have a death wish."

Jason snarled at Heero. "You wanna go, huh?" He lunged his suit forward. "Well do you?"

"You've left me no choice," Heero growled. "Let's go."

The two mobile suits charged each other and began a heated battle.


	6. Apocalypse Plese

**Chapter VI**

**Apocalypse Please**

_Declare this an emergency_

_Come on and spread a sense of urgency_

_And pull us through_

_And pull us through_

_And it's time we saw a miracle_

_Come on, it's time for something biblical_

_To pull us through_

_And pull us through_

_Proclaim eternal victory_

_Come on and change the course of history_

_And pull us through_

_And pull us through_

_And this is the end_

_This is the end of the world_

Heero's Leo and Jason's Taurus clashed together as they fought. Jason was a trained pilot, but couldn't possibly match the fighting skills Heero possessed. However, Jason didn't seem to realize what he was up against, fighting as over-confidently as he talked.

"You're not so hot, Heero Yuy!" Jason screamed as he landed a blow.

"I'm going to take you down with this blasted colony!"

Heero struck back. "I'd like to see you try!"

Jason was fighting a losing battle, and now he knew it. If he could just get to the beam cannon, he could finish off Yuy easily and still succeed in his mission to destroy L2-74. Heero could tell that this was what Jason was thinking, and did his best to keep his enemy far from the cannon. Heero figured he could disable Jason without actually killing him, and then make his way over to the cannon to destroy it at his leisure.

It would sure be a lot easier if he had Wing Zero; he could just fire his twin buster rifle at the cannon, and the fight would be over. Nevertheless, mobile suit battles were supposed to be a thing of the past, and Heero was fighting to keep it that way. _But I never wanted my last battle to be in a Leo,_ Heero thought warily.

Duo, who never got the confirmation message from Heero, decided to fly over to Heero's side and see what was holding him up. When he got there, he saw that the rest of the mobile dolls factory had been destroyed.

"I wonder where he went now." Duo wondered aloud. He decided to venture outside the colony to see if Heero was in space. Duo accidentally flew into the middle of their fight. "Uh-oh!" That Taurus was getting creamed by the Leo. "Well, no question who's piloting the Leo! Heero, any way I can be of assistance?"

Heero and Jason halted their combat and faced one another. If they had been out of their suits, their eyes would have locked right on one another's, because they each knew the other's thoughts.

"Duo- the cannon- _Now!_"

"Oh, no you don't!" Jason raced Heero to the beam cannon.

Duo trailed behind them, ready to help Heero destroy it. Jason beat the two Leos there and pressed the keys to enable to the beam cannon.

"Nooo!" Duo screamed. This was his home... Hilde was there... He had to stop this cannon! He leapt in front of the beam, hoping to absorb most of the blast so the colony would only be slightly damaged. Heero recognized Duo's plan and contacted him.

"Duo, if we both self-detonate, the mutual blasts will be enough to counter the beam and destroy the cannon."

Duo sighed. "It's nuts, but I want to save this colony more than I want to live. Let's do it, Heero."

Heero flew over and positioned himself next to Duo. The beam was headed straight for them, and Heero let his gaze settle on it, unflinching. He was only thinking of Relena, hoping what Jason had told him was untrue, and that she was still alive. If not, he hoped he would end up in heaven so he could see her again. Heero prepared the self-detonation device and braced for impact.

"Goodbye, Hilde... I'm sure gonna miss you," Duo sighed.

"That's it, then." Heero murmured. "Detonation in ten, nine, eight..."

"NO!" Jason's Taurus came barreling at them. "I won't give you the satisfaction of dying for this colony! It's going down with you!" Jason stopped in front of them and tried to battle them out of the way.

"You fool!" Duo yelled. "Now we're ALL gonna die!"

_Not unless..._ "Fight him, Duo!" Heero switched off the detonation device, since it would no longer matter now that Jason had pushed Duo out of the way. However, the beam was still headed for the colony at full speed. Heero pulled out the Leo's beam sword and flew directly at the cannon.

"Why are you still fighting me?" Duo screamed at Jason. "Heero's gonna destroy the cannon! You've lost!"

"It's not over till its over!" Jason, however, was now directly in front of the beam, and it devoured him in its path toward the colony. The Phoenix soldier went out with one final scream. "NOOOOO!" His Taurus was vaporized.

Duo's eyes widened. "Whoa... That was scary!"

Just then, there was another huge explosion as Heero destroyed the cannon with a swipe of the Leo's beam sword. The blast set Heero's Leo flying backward, but he quickly recovered and flew back toward Duo.

"Too bad he got in the way," Heero said tonelessly. "I might have let him live after we captured him and pumped him for information."

"Yeah... It's a real shame." Duo looked back to the spot where Jason had just been. All that remained of him and his Taurus looked like stardust.

"That was one powerful beam," Heero muttered. "I would've hated to see what it could do to the colony."

"That's for sure!" Duo agreed. He crossed himself thankfully. "Now let's get the heck outta here."

The two pilots guided their stolen mobile suits back to the colony. When they reached the Phoenix base, they hit the self-detonation devices in the Leos and hopped out. After making a call to the colony's police about the Phoenix soldiers they found, the two began to plan their exit.

"Now for a ride home," Duo said.

"I've got a Preventer shuttle on the base's top level," Heero answered. "But we can't head home just yet; we should see how Trowa's faring."

"Oh yeah! That's right. If he's encountering anything on LX-316 like we did, he could probably use a hand."

The two went to where Heero had landed his shuttle, only to find it was demolished.

"Unreal!" Duo cried, scratching his head.

"Looks like Phoenix didn't want me to escape," Heero said coolly.

"So much for that idea!" Duo threw his hands up in the air. "Now what?"

"Duo!"

"Huh?"

The two Preventers turned around to see Hilde running at them. She stopped short when she saw the results of the explosions.

"Wow... What happened here? Are you guys ok?"

"We're fine, babe," Duo answered, grinning. "How are you doing?"

Hilde gave him a wide smile. "I found something I gotta show you! Come with me, quick!"

She grabbed Duo by the arm and started to run. Duo shot a helpless glance toward Heero, and he had no choice but to follow. Within a few minutes the three of them were standing in Hilde's scrap yard, gazing at an untouched light-speed Aries.

"Hey! Nice Aries! Where'd you find that?"

"Thanks! I found it near where you guys just were, in between some abandoned buildings. No one was in it, so I took it! I figured I'd do my part to ensure disarmament for the future and scrap it. It's the least I could do to help Relena."

"Relena..." Heero closed his eyes at the mention of her name. _You'd better be alive when I get back!_ He thought. _I was the one who was supposed to die now, not you. You have a future to protect._

Duo watched Heero curiously for a moment, then turned to Hilde. "Sounds like this guy's anxious to get home. Since you're just going to scrap this suit anyway, would you mind if I borrow it first? I promise to blow it up as soon as I'm done."

"Sure, Duo, do what you want with it," Hilde said with a shrug. "Do you need it for your mission or something?"

"You could say that. We're about to go bail out a friend of ours... That is, if he even needs our help."

"Well," Hilde said with a smile, "call me if you need anything. I'll be here."

"Thanks, babe." Dou grabbed her in a fierce hug. He held her for longer than she expected him to, and she pulled away with a slight laugh.

"Are you okay, Duo?"

"I'm fine. I'm just really happy to see you again."

"So am I. But be careful out there, okay? Come back in one piece... You are coming back here, aren't you?"

"I'll see what I can do. Our visit was kinda cut short, and I'd like to spend some more time here."

"Come back whenever you want, Duo. I'll be here waiting."

"Thanks, Hilde. See ya later!" With that, Duo jumped inside the Aries. "You coming, Heero?"

Heero was momentarily distracted, staring up at the colony's manufactured sky. "Hn? Oh." He nodded to Hilde and joined Duo inside the mobile suit.

Hilde waved goodbye with a smile on her face as the Aries took off for space.

"You see, Heero," Duo lectured as Heero flew the suit to LX, "that's how you should treat a woman. You could learn a lot from watching me and Hilde. Might help you out the next time you encounter Relena."

"_If_ there's a next time," Heero muttered under his breath, but the remark didn't get past Duo.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Heero's braided friend retorted. "Are you planning to die out here or something?"

"Something like that." Heero didn't want to say anything about Relena's possible condition so as not to worry Duo.

Duo sighed and shook his head. "Did you at _least_ say goodbye to her first?

Heero checked the status of the Aries' velocity. "No."

"Well, geez! If you're gonna die, you at least say some romantic things before you go!" Duo paused. "Have you kissed her yet?"

"Shut up."

"Geez! I'm just asking a question! Can I have my head back now?"

Heero mostly ignored Duo for the rest of the trip, unless it had to do with their mission.

The girl that continued to haunt Heero's ragged mind was on her way to the same colony he was.

"Relena? It's time to wake up. We're almost there," Noin spoke to her softly.

"Huh?" Relena stirred from her position in the seat beside Noin. "Gosh... How long did I sleep?"

"Pretty much most of the trip. Your body must have needed it," Zechs answered.

Relena nodded and turned her face to look out the window. They were flying past a cluster of colonies at rapid speed, but it was still possible to see the white outlines of the stars. They were so much brighter in space, and Relena wished that every person on Earth could have the chance to see them from here. Her thoughts then turned to Heero. Everyone was saying that Adrian had Heero lured away to the L2 area to be killed, but Relena didn't believe anyone was capable of ending Heero's life, other than God or Heero himself. She thought of the secret Heero had shared with her and Duo—his ability to regenerate from mortal injuries. He was much stronger than anyone could estimate, and often hid his true power from his opponent.

Relena had a sneaking suspicion that her brother was the same way. She had heard the word "Newtype" used to describe both of them before, but she had no idea what it meant. Zechs was very vague with his answer, and Relena never asked Heero about it. At any rate, Relena was confident that Heero possessed the skills necessary to outwit any enemy and was probably safe wherever he was right now. Relena was comforted by that thought and began to concentrate on the situation at hand.

Their shuttle soon reached the LX area, and Zechs, Noin and Relena landed at a space port in LX-316.

"Now, did Dorothy give you a specific location of this place?" Noin asked as they began to scan the perimeter.

"No, she just told me it was here on LX. It's supposedly hidden. No one would want a secret MS factory to be detected, after all."

Zechs frowned pensively. "Well, we should begin at places we know used to contain MS and work our way from there. I suppose you want to shut them down in a non-violent manner, right?"

"Correct," Relena confirmed. "I'll do what I've done every other time. I'll go in there and state that...

"I'm Relena Darlian, Vice Foreign Minister of the Earth Sphere United Nation." Relena presented her hand to the man in front of her, who was the manager of Orion Corporation, an industry that once specialized in mass-producing mobile suits. Relena and Noin decided to come here first, while Zechs checked out another possibility.

"Welcome to Orion, Miss Darlian. I'm Morris Shibley. May I offer you a beverage while we meet together?"

"No, thank you. We are here because we've heard rumors about a mobile suit factory that is still producing mobile dolls, even though the last war has been over for more than a year now. Would you happen to know anything about it?"

"Why, no, Miss Darlian. I haven't heard anything like that. As you know, Orion used to be a prime supplier to the Alliance military and was eventually bought by Oz, but we have not produced any suits since the conclusion of the Eve Wars. We now specialize in building high-quality civilian shuttles."

"I am relieved to here that, but would you mind if we had a look about the area?"

"Not at all; I'll give you the grand tour myself."

Noin and Relena surveyed the premises, but found no signs of illegal manufacturing. They thanked Mr. Shibley and headed on their way.

"Well, that's one, Relena," Noin sighed. "Do you know where else we can go?"

"Yes," Relena said decidedly. "Let's try a former military base; there would be lots of places to store mobile suits there."

They headed to a former Alliance base; upon arrival, they found it under heavy construction.

"They're tearin' this old base out to make room for a shopping center!" A gruff-looking man reported to the two Cinque women.

"May we have a look around?" Relena had to shout to be heard over the whir of the machines at work.

"What's that?"

She made an effort to raise her voice. "I said, may we have a look around?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"WE'D LIKE TO LOOK AROUND!" Noin finally yelled.

"OH! Sure, you can! Just be real careful now, ladies." The man walked away, chuckling to himself.

Relena and Noin conducted as thorough a search as possible, only to find that the construction worker was telling the truth.

"This is harder than I thought it'd be," Relena sighed.

"I guess we'll just have to keep looking. Maybe Zechs is having better luck."

"Maybe..."

The two disheartened women visited more military bases and industries that used to produce mobile suits, but continued to come up empty. They searched abandoned warehouses and anything else they could think of; still, nothing was found.

"What about civilian areas?" Relena inquired.

"Civilian? Wouldn't that be too noticeable? That's a hard thing to miss when it's going on right under your nose."

Relena tapped Noin's nose and giggled. "That's what I'm getting at."

Noin thought for a second, and the meaning behind Relena's words hit her. "Oh, I see. Well, lead on, Minister Darlian!"

The two ventured toward the downtown section of the colony. It was easy to locate the North Star building, since is stood at an imposing height of eighty stories. The sign out front revealed that this place served multiple purposes and was home to many practices, including financial, law and medical offices. It also boasted a bank and four-star restaurant.

"See?" Relena said breezily to Noin. "Everyone must come here, so..."

"...any MS production _would _be going on right under their noses," Noin finished for her.

The two women agreed not to question anyone this time, but to start investigating by themselves; that way, they wouldn't get pulled into a lengthy tour of the building. They stepped into the elevator, and Relena pushed the button for the lowest level.

"We'll work our way up from the bottom," she explained needlessly.

They soon entered the basement, which could be described in few words: large, dark, and empty. Noin and Relena spread out to search for possible clues. Relena felt along a wall, hoping to find some sort of secret panel, when her hand ran across something square-shaped.

"Noin!" She hissed. "Over here!"

Noin's eyes widened at the sight of the small electronic box, something she had seen herself many times at military bases. "Relena! This is it! Now we just have to figure out their code."

"Code? What on earth could it be?"

The two women puzzled over it for a while, punching in whatever they could think of.

"Why don't we contact Zechs?" Noin suggested at last.

"I'm one step ahead of you," a raspy voice said from behind them.

"Milliardo!" Relena cried happily. "Thank goodness. We have to figure out the code to get in here. What do you think—"

Before Relena could say another word, Zechs was in front of the box, inspecting it closely. "Hmph. There's no need to punch in a code when you can work around it," Zechs murmured. "We had one of these at a few Oz bases. There's one code that disables the password sequence, which just about every soldier has to memorize and never changes. That code is..." Zechs quickly punched in a series of numbers, and the floor dropped beneath them. Relena let out a startled gasp as they began descending down a long metal slide.

"Why didn't I think of that code sooner?" Noin called to Zechs.

"Beats me," Zechs replied as they fell. "We're going too fast," he called to the two women. "Try to sit up as straight as you can."

They obeyed him and began to slow down. They landed quietly in a room swarming with the same soldiers Duo and Heero had seen in the red and black uniforms. Despite their discreet entrance, Noin, Zechs, and Relena were immediately noticed. The militant group surrounded them and drilled them with questions.

"Who are you, and what do you think you're doing here?"

Relena shrugged off one of the soldiers who had come up behind her and tried to grab hold of her. "I'm Vice Foreign Minister Darlian of ESUN, and I demand to know what is going on here. You are the ones who need to tell me who _you_ are."

"We call ourselves Phoenix," a man in his thirties approached them, speaking with a thick British accent. "I'm Nathan, head of this operation."

"Would use please explain the purpose of your operation to me?" Relena glared at him.

"There's only one thing that you really need to know," Nathan said with a cryptic smile, "and that is that we have no use for you. Part of our assignment was your disposal, and I'm delighted to say that I will see to it myself." With that, Nathan produced a gun and pointed it right at Relena. She merely stared at him, unflinching.

"So, you're the ones who have been trying to kill me all this time. Wufei and Dorothy were both right," she said, nodding to Zechs and Noin. "And now you want to start a war with the colonies."

"Very observant, Miss Darlian, but your smarts won't save you now." Nathan pulled the trigger. Zechs and Noin both reacted instantly, pushing Relena out of the way.

"That's all right," Nathan grinned and blew on his gun's smoking barrel. "I've got plenty more shots where that came from."

Zechs glared at the man before rushing him. Nathan fired, but Zechs managed to dodge every bullet. He kicked the gun out of Nathan's hand, but found himself surrounded with more gunfire from the other soldiers.

"Zechs!" Noin screamed. She raced to join him in the fight after urging Relena to hide.

"Hide? Where?..." Relena stood by helplessly for a moment, until two soldiers grabbed her arms from behind. Relena, however, did know a little self-defense, thanks to her brother's urging that she learn to protect herself. She used the soldiers' arms as if they gymnastic bars, kicking them in the face as she flipped backward. The two men were so stunned that they fell over, giving Relena ample time to escape.

She ran hurriedly up a flight of metal stairs onto a landing high above everyone else. More soldiers saw her and ran up after her. Relena swung her head around, trying to find another place to run. She felt something on the wall behind her—_A ladder!_ She began to climb up it as the soldiers scrambled after her. Occasionally she could here bullets coming from behind, but she dared not look down for the life of her. She found herself on a roof-like landing, just beneath the ceiling. The pursuing soldiers were closing in on her.

Relena found a few metal rods and began tossing them downward, hoping they would harm the soldiers enough to stall them, but not wishing to inflict any serious injuries. She looked up to see rafters above her; they were so thin, Relena was certain that none of these soldiers was smaller enough to stand on them. Good thing her childhood gymnastics classes had made her well-adverse in using a balance beam!

Relena grabbed hold of one and swung her legs over so she was sitting on the beam. Relena took a good look around her; the beams spread out all over the ceiling, and ran adjacent to the room's fluorescent lights. If Relena got too close to them, she realized, she could be burned. The biggest challenge, however, was being certain not to fall. The beam was only about four inches wide; Relena could judge that much. All it would take to tumble was one false step. Beads of perspiration broke out across Relena's forehead. She could hear the soldiers coming closer; when they reached her, they could probably grab hold of her easily and cause her to fall.

_I can't let that happen. I'm going to climb higher!_ Relena could hear her heart pounding loudly in her ears. She slowly stood up on the beam and swung up to the one above her the same way she had gotten on the first one. The soldiers were unable to reach her now, but they could still fire at her.

Relena's only option now was to move as far away from them as possible- without losing her balance. _Somehow I doubt this is  
like the gymnastics class at St. Gabriel!_ Relena stood up again and began to slowly walk across the beam, one foot in front of the other. She kept her eyes straight ahead of her, imagining she was on a normal balance beam, which stood only four feet off the ground. Relena didn't want to think about how high up she was now; last time she checked, Zechs looked to be about the size of her pinkie finger. _Just hang in there, _she told herself. _You're doing just fine!_

That's when she heard the gun shots. One of them hit the beam she was walking on, just a precious few feet behind her. The beam shook, but Relena held her balance. She looked around frantically, but there was nothing for her to grab hold of; she could only continue to move across slowly, now a little shakier than before. The shots continued to come from behind her, the bullets edging closer to Relena with each passing second; she even saw one as it whizzed past her head.

_Keep going! Keep going!_ There was nothing else she could do. Finally, the moment she'd been expecting arrived; one of the soldier's bullets grazed her ankle, sending a wave of shock and pain up Relena's body. She suddenly felt paralyzed, and could do nothing as she slipped off the rafter. Her deafening scream reverberated off the walls, and Zechs and Noin watched in helpless horror.

"RELENA!"

Her body was completely out of her control as she tumbled at incredible speed. One thought screamed through her mind in those crucial seconds… _Heero._

At that moment, mere seconds after she had actually been shot, a pair of strong arms caught her. Relena could neither see her savior nor say anything to him; she merely buried her face into his chest and kept it there. Relena could feel she and her rescuer making sudden twists, turns and flips in the air, before landing with surprising solidity on what she thought was another metal rafter.

Relena was breathing hard, trying to keep from crying, as a calm voiced soothed her. "Shh... It's okay, Relena. I've got you."

Relena recognized the smooth voice. "Trowa!" She looked up into the face of none other than the circus acrobat himself. Then she chanced a glimpse down. Relena gasped. This was no four-inch steel beam they were standing on—it was a single wire rope! _Where did Trowa get a tightrope? _Relena was stunned.

"I always carry one with me," Trowa answered the question in Relena's eyes, following her gaze to his rope. "They tend to come in handy, especially in situations like these."

Relena just shook her head in amazement and let Trowa carry her to safety. Trowa had managed to rescue Relena because he was hiding out on the rafters himself, waiting for an opportunity to attack the soldiers and get to the mobile suits. When he saw Relena ascending, he stayed put, not wanting to draw any extra attention to her. However, when the soldiers began to fire at her, Trowa made his way across to her, beam by beam. He was still too far away when she was shot in the ankle, so he threw all his chances and pulled out his tightrope. He had designed it with a grappling hook system so that it would attach to wherever he aimed it, then do likewise at the other end, creating a straight line. Trowa then jumped down after Relena, grabbed her, and flipped over to the tightrope, landing squarely on his two feet.

The whole ordeal began and was over within seconds; Trowa had executed his plan very quickly in order to save her. It was a feat no one normally would have imagined possible—but anything was possible with a former Gundam pilot.

Trowa leaned down and whispered in Relena's blonde hair, "Relena? I'm going to swing us down to the lower level now, okay? Zechs and Noin have taken care of most of the soldiers, so you should be safe."

Relena tried to reply, but the pain surging throughout her body seemed to rob her of her voice; the only sound she could make came out as a whimper. Trowa carefully dropped off the tightrope and, holding Relena with one steady arm, grabbed hold of the rope with his free hand. He detached the end of the rope they were standing on and began to swing to the other end. Trowa couldn't control their speed and knew they were going to hit the wall. He turned himself around mid-swing so that he would slam into it with his shoulder. He did this successfully, then began to shimmy down the rope to the floor. When he finally reached solid ground, Noin was applauding.

"That was just about the most daring rescue I've ever seen! Nice work, Trowa."

Trowa nodded and handed the wounded Relena off to Zechs.

"I told you that you shouldn't have come," Zechs murmured to his sister.

Tears stung Relena's eyes, and she didn't utter a word.

"Relena's the one who found this place, between the two of us," Noin pointed out. "The only other people to find it were you two, and you're former Gundam pilots. I think that's saying a lot on her part."

"She's right," Trowa agreed.

"All right, Relena. Looks like you win." Zechs held his little sister in his arms. "But we still need to take care of that wound of yours."  
"The bullet didn't go through, just grazed her ankle. We should be able to treat it right here," said Trowa.

"I'll take care of Relena," Noin volunteered. "You guys need to find those mobile suits and get rid of them."

The two former pilots nodded at Noin's plan and raced to find the MS hangar.

"Don't worry, Relena," Noin whispered. "This will all be over soon."

Relena opened her mouth as if to say something, but only a gasp came out.

"It must hurt you a lot. The first gun wound's always tough. If you were a soldier, I'd tell you to get used to it," Noin said with a smile. "After you've been shot, guns aren't so scary anymore."

Relena just glared at Noin, who smiled in return.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot. You're not afraid of anything, are you?" Noin thought of the stories Relena had told her of staring down barrels of guns that Heero had pulled on her, and countless other times when her life had been threatened with a gun in her face. Just a while earlier, that soldier Nathan had shot at her, and Relena didn't even flinch.

"You're a crazy kid, Relena," Noin muttered as she wrapped Relena's wound with some scraps of her own clothing. "Crazy... but brave, nonetheless."

Relena tried to smile, but winced as Noin put pressure on her bleeding ankle. It seemed that it was oozing more than it should have for a minor wound.

Noin began to look worried. "I know Trowa said the bullet only grazed you, but goodness… You're losing quite a bit of blood." Then Noin realized how severe Relena's injuries from only a few days before had been; she had lost a lot of blood from her head, which was always dangerous. It was unlikely that her body could stand to lose much more.

Sweat broke out on Noin's forehead. _Dear God… She's going to need a transfusion._ Noin finished wrapping Relena's ankle, only to watch helplessly as the blood immediately soaked through the cloth. Noin tried not to panic, but only one thought dominated her mind:_ Can we make it to the hospital in time? _


End file.
